


Daylight

by turtleback



Category: Rizzoli & Isles
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-24
Updated: 2015-05-19
Packaged: 2018-01-05 22:32:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 35
Words: 103,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1099355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/turtleback/pseuds/turtleback
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Multi-chapter AU that starts right before Jane and Maura start working together. Maura has just moved to Boston to take the Chief Medical Examiner job with her ten year old son. With some help from Maura's son, Jane and Maura meet and start to get to know each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Detective Jane Rizzoli arrived at her apartment building after work and found a kid, probably ten or eleven years old, playing in the small yard outside the building with a football. He was tossing it in the air and catching it and then running around as if tacklers were pursuing him.

"Hey buddy, do your parents know you're out here?" Jane asked as she entered the yard.

"Yeah, my mom is right in there," he answered, pointing to the first floor windows on the left side of the building.

"Okay," Jane said, knowing he was pointing to an apartment that had been empty for a few weeks and assuming his family had just moved into the building.

"Do you know if there are any other kids who live around here?" he asked.

Jane smiled. "Uh, no, I'm not sure. I don't know any," she answered. She knew there weren't any kids in any of the other six units in their building, but she really didn't pay close attention to know about the rest of the neighborhood.

"Oh," he said, clearly disappointed.

"I could toss the football around with you a little bit if you wanted though," Jane offered. He looked unsure and she added, "My name is Jane. I live on the the third floor."

"Do you play football?" he asked and Jane realized his apprehension was probably not because she was a stranger and an adult, but because she was a girl.

"Of course," she answered and held up her hands in front of her chest, indicating he could pass her the football.

He threw her the ball and she caught it easily and threw it back to him in a passable spiral. He caught it Jane figured she passed the test because he smiled and said, "My name's Billy," as he threw the football back to her.

After a few passes back and forth, he asked, "Do you have a favorite team?"

"Patriots, of course," Jane answered. "What about you?"

"49ers," he answered.

"I guess they're pretty good," Jane said playfully.

"Yeah, they went to the Super Bowl last year, but they lost. Did you watch it?" he asked.

"I did. I was routing for the 49ers in that game."

"My mom took me to a game last year. It was against the Bears. The 49ers won that game."

Before Jane could respond to that, the front door of the building open behind her and a woman's voice said, "William?"

"Mom, did you see that catch?"

"What are you doing out here? You know you have to ask me before you leave the apartment."

"I was bored. I want to play outside," Billy whined.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know he wasn't supposed to be outside," Jane said as she made her way over to the building's front steps. "I live on the third floor. I saw him playing alone when I got home. He said you knew he was out here but I figured it was better to have someone keeping an eye on him."

"Thank you for looking out for him. I was unpacking and I didn't realize he came outside."

"Sure, it's no problem. I'm Jane Rizzoli." Jane held out her hand as she introduced herself and took the opportunity to take a closer look at her new neighbor. She wearing light linen pants and a loose short sleeve top and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She looked casual but she was more dressed up than Jane would have been for moving or unpacking.

The woman took Jane's outstretched hand. "Maura Isles."

The name was familiar and Jane quickly realized where she had heard it before. "Dr. Maura Isles?"

"Yes. How did you know that?" Maura asked, obviously surprised.

"I'm a homicide detective with the Boston PD," Jane answered. "You're the new medical examiner, right? I got a memo about you the other day."

"Yes, Chief Medical Examiner."

"What a coincidence. I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other. When do you start working?"

"In two weeks I think. I want to get Will started in school when the school year starts and make sure his schedule is all set before I start working. Speaking of schedules," she said and turned to Billy who was still playing in the yard. "Will, it's time to come inside for dinner."

"Already? Can I please play a little longer?" Billy asked, although, Jane noted, he was already walking towards them to the stairs, anticipating his mother's response.

Maura rubbed her hand over his head and patted his back as he passed by them. "Sorry sweetie. I need you to clean up and eat. I'm sure Detective Rizzoli has things she needs to do tonight too and we should let her get to them." As they all walked inside she said, "Will, is there something you want to say to Detective Rizzoli?"

He turned around, smiled, and said, "Thanks for playing, Jane," before running inside his apartment while dodging pretend tacklers.

"Thank you again," Maura said. "He really loves football and I don't have the same ball handling skills you do."

"Ball handling skills?" Jane said with a small laugh as she walked Maura to her apartment door. "It was really no problem. I had fun," Jane assured her. "Let me know if you need anything at all as you get settled. Or if you have any questions about working with BPD, I'd be happy to talk with you about that too."

"Thank you," Maura repeated sincerely.

Jane went upstairs to her apartment and once inside she looked at her hands. She flexed them a few times, extending her fingers out fully, and then massaged each palm around the scar. They felt a little stiff, maybe a little sore, but they didn't hurt. She went to the bathroom and took two ibuprofen just in case. More importantly, she hadn't even thought about her hands before offering to play catch with Billy. It was only after catching the ball and throwing it back the first time that she had realized it was the first time she had touched a football since her injury.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few days later Jane came home after spending most of the previous forty-eight hours working on a case. When she entered the apartment building, the first floor apartment door flew open and Billy rushed out saying, "Hi Jane. Wanna play football again?"

Maura was right behind him ready to apologize, but Jane just smiled at both of them and said, "Sure. Let me just go change and then we can play, okay?"

Billy ran inside the apartment to get his football and Maura said, "You really don't have to play with him. I'm sure you have things to do."

"I'm happy to," Jane responded. "There's a park about a block and half from here with more room to play and run around. If you've got some free time now, we could all go over there."

Maura smiled at the suggestion. "Alright. I'll go get ready too and we'll meet you outside."

Ten minutes later they were walking to the park. Jane had changed into shorts and a t-shirt. Maura was dressed similarly to the day they had met but she carrying a huge bag.

"You know we're going to the park for like an hour, right? We're not moving there," Jane joked when she saw the bag.

"I know, but I like to be prepared. I brought water, sunblock and a blanket. Oh, and a first aid kit."

Jane just laughed. When they got there Jane directed them to an open section of grass. "Are you going to play today?" she asked Maura.

Maura was already taking a seat on a nearby bench. "I think I'll just watch."

Jane and Billy threw the ball back and forth for a few minutes and then he decided he wanted Jane to be the quarterback and he would play wide receiver. Jane asked him if he knew anything about the basic receiver routes and he said no. So they crouched on the ground and Jane traced routes with her finger on the grass and explained what each one was.

Then Billy lined up to her left and Jane said, "Okay, let's try a post route. Go." He ran straight ahead for several yards and then diagonally towards where the center of the end zone on the football would be.

Jane threw the ball and he caught it in stride and then immediately ran towards Maura saying, "Mom, did you see that?"

Maura was already clapping and said enthusiastically, "That was fantastic."

He ran over to Jane who held her hand up for a high five and then said, "Ready to go again?" He gave her the ball and lined up again. "Let's run the slant," Jane said and he took off.

Once again he caught her pass but this time he ran right back to Jane, flipped her the ball, lined up, and said, "Ready."

They kept going, with Jane calling out corner, quick out, hook, slant, or post routes for each throw. There were dropped balls and some mis-throws on Jane's part, but after a little while after each catch Billy started doing different touchdown celebrations with each one before returning the ball to Jane. Maura continued to cheer each catch.

They continued playing until Maura noticed Jane was rubbing her left hand after each throw. She got up and walked over to where Jane was standing and for the first time noticed the scars on Jane's hands.

"Ready to join in?" Jane asked her.

"Oh. No. Not yet anyway," Maura answered. "I think it's time for us to get going though. It's almost dinner time."

"Jane, can you come over for dinner?" Billy asked.

Maura had come to the conclusion this afternoon that she didn't need to make any excuses for Jane and she could answer for herself, but this time Jane said, "It really depends on if that's okay with your Mom. I don't want to intrude on whatever she has planned for tonight."

"Oh, of course you're welcome to have dinner with us," Maura said.

"There's a pizza place on our walk back. Why don't we just get some food there? That's easy, right?" Jane suggested, but then realized when she saw Maura's face that she shouldn't have suggested that without running it by Maura first.

"Yeah, Mom, can we get pizza?" Billy chipped in.

"I suppose that would work for tonight," Maura agreed. Jane mouthed "sorry" silently to her, but Maura just smiled at Jane and said, "It's fine. It's a good idea."

Jane showed them to the restaurant and Maura took care of ordering the pizza, along with a salad for herself, and insisted on paying for the food. They brought the food back to Maura and Billy's apartment, which Jane thought looked pretty well organized for only having moved in less than a week ago, although Maura apologized for the mess.

While they ate, Billy recited a steady stream of San Francisco 49ers facts to Jane. When he was done eating, Maura sent Billy off to clean himself up and change into pajamas.

While helping to clean up dishes, Jane said, "Hey, sorry if pizza wasn't a good recommendation. I shouldn't have said anything without knowing what your food preferences are. I forget that you can't really say stuff like that in front of kids without following through."

"It's fine. I've been trying as best as I can to keep our regular routine since moving and we've been doing pretty well. One night with pizza as a treat is good. And you are so good with him. I really can't thank you enough for playing with him so much."

Jane shrugged. "Like I said before, it's fun for me too."

"Still, it's very kind of you to take so much time to play with him and I really appreciate it. Maybe…maybe if you have time in the next week, I could make you dinner and you can tell me a little bit about what to expect working with the Boston Police Department?"

"Sure, anytime. Where did you work before anyway?" Jane asked.

"I was an Assistant Medical Examiner in San Francisco."

"And you chose to leave there for Massachusetts?"

"You don't like Boston?" Maura asked.

Jane shook her head. "I love Boston. I grew up here. I've never lived anywhere else and I don't plan on leaving. But people are always leaving here for California. You don't hear about the other way around too often."

"This job was a great opportunity. As the Chief M.E., I have more control over my own schedule and hopefully won't be away from home as much as I was before, especially overnight. And we'll be somewhat closer to my parents. They spend most of their time in Europe and San Francisco was a long trip from there. I'm hoping they'll see Will more often now."

"How often did they see him before?" Jane asked.

"Once a year usually. Maybe twice depending on their travel schedules and if we traveled to them. They Skype with him every once in a while too."

"Damn," Jane said with a laugh. "If I had a kid, my mother would practically move in with me. I'd never get rid of her."

"They were not exactly what you might call hands-on parents and I don't think they really know how to interact with kids. I was an only child and I suppose I was fairly independent so I don't think I demanded much from them. But now that Will is getting older I think they might do better."

Jane couldn't quite imagine how a child could be independent but she didn't know how to respond to that so she said, "Where did you grow up?"

"I primarily lived in Europe and New York City as a child, but actually I was born in Boston. I don't remember anything about living here though. We moved away when I was only two. One of the reasons I was interested in this job was the chance to get to know Boston."

They lapsed into a moment of silence until Jane said, "Well, I should go and get out of your way." She started moving towards the door as she said, "Thanks for dinner and anytime you want to get together just let me know. I mean, I'm happy to answer any questions you have about BPD or whatever."

Maura followed Jane to the door. "Thank you. I'll let you know."

"Tell Billy I said goodnight and I'll talk to you soon."

Jane left and went up to her apartment. She took a couple of ibuprofen and collapsed into bed, thinking as she drifted off to sleep that she was far too interested in her new neighbor.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Maura spent the next week unpacking and organizing, getting Will registered for school and after school activities, and interviewing potential part time nannies. In San Francisco, she had someone who watched him after school and several people who were on call when she worked late or got called in the middle of the night. With her new position, which allowed her to set her own schedule and schedules and assignments for district medical examiners, she hoped to limit the number of evenings and nights she would have to work. But she still needed someone to watch him in the afternoon and people she could rely on for other times she did have to work.

Mostly she had tried to keep busy during the past week because when she wasn't occupied, she was plagued with doubts about moving to Boston. It was a good move for her professionally, a promotion to Chief Medical Examiner for the entire state of Massachusetts. A similar position likely wouldn't have been open to her for years in San Francisco. And she wasn't leaving anything behind in her personal life. But she worried about moving William across the country, away from friends and the support system she had established for him and that had worked for them for ten years.

The move had been relatively sudden too. The Governor's office had pursued her and offered her the job over a period of about six months, but Maura had waited until the last possible minute before deciding to accept the position. That only left them with a few weeks to pack and move in time to be settled in before the new school year started. Much of her time prior to the move was spent getting William into a private school that he would be able to continue attending through high school. She found an apartment close to her office, deciding to wait until she knew the city better before finding a more permanent home.

For his part, Will had been treating the whole thing like a great adventure. He was outgoing in a way she had never been and it still surprised her how easy it was for him to simply talk to people and how capable he was at making friends. Although she was always nervous for him, unable to put aside her own feelings of anxiety about new social situations, she also didn't really doubt that he would make new friends at school without any problems.

There were some people she supposed she could call friends in San Francisco, mostly parents of Will's friends, but she didn't feel particularly close to any of them. They weren't people in whom she confided. In fact, she had probably revealed as much personal information to Jane in two conversations than she had to anyone else in years. Jane was just like her son, outgoing and inquisitive without it feeling intrusive. Having a friendship with a co-worker would be unusual for her too. The people she worked with in San Francisco certainly respected her and she knew she was excellent at her job, but she wouldn't have considered any of them to be friends.

Maura couldn't deny that Jane interested her from the moment she saw her playing with her son. Jane had been wearing jeans and a button down shirt with sleeves rolled up to her elbows and Maura thought she had looked simply gorgeous. When they had dinner, Maura noticed Jane rubbing her hands again and for the first time noticed the scars on her hands. Maura had wished for the easy confidence to know how to delicately asked Jane what had happened without resorting to clinical and detached medical language. Instead she had said nothing and hoped for more opportunities to get to know Jane better.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The following week, Maura walked into Boston Police Headquarters with William in tow. Before she could get to the elevator to go down to her office, she heard someone yelling, "Dr. Isles."

Maura was surprised to hear someone calling her name, but smiled when she saw Jane waving her over. She walked over to the counter where Jane was sitting. "Hello, Detective Rizzoli."

"Hi Doc. Hey Billy," Jane greeted them while looking at them curiously. Billy was wearing khakis and a short sleeve button down shirt, which Jane assumed must be some sort of school uniform. But Maura was wearing a green dress and heels and looked like she was ready for a fancy dinner party. "Did school start today?"

"It starts tomorrow," Maura answered. "But there was an orientation for new students this morning."

"What are you doing here? You aren't starting until next week right?"

"Yes, but I wanted to check in on the lab. I ordered some new equipment and supplies. Some of the equipment that was here was woefully out of date."

"Yeah, well, so was the last M.E," Jane joked.

"And there should be some applications for open district medical examiner and lab technician positions I'm hoping to fill as soon as possible, so I wanted to pick those up."

"I want to introduce you to someone. Ma," Jane called to the woman who had just appeared behind the counter. When she came over to them Jane said, "Ma, this is our new Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Maura Isles. Dr. Isles this is my mother, Angela Rizzoli. She runs the cafe here."

"Nice to meet you," Maura said as she shook Angela's hand. "And this is my son, William."

"You can call me Billy," he interjected.

"It's very nice to meet you both," Angela said.

"Ma, can you watch Billy for a few minutes while I show Dr. Isles down to her office?"

"I'd be happy to," Angela agreed. "How about some milk and cookies?" she said to Billy.

"Do you have anything healthier?" Maura interjected. "Maybe some fruit?"

"This is a cop cafe, honey, but I'll see what I can find. You two go ahead. Billy and I will get to know each other."

"Are you sure?" Maura asked. "I probably have about an hour of work to do. He has a book and his iPad to keep him busy if you can just keep an eye on him."

Angela waved her away. "Go, we'll be fine."

"My mother is great with kids," Jane said as she ushered Maura towards the elevators. "What's with the William, Billy thing anyway?"

"Oh, he insists on being called Billy right now. I have no idea why."

"You don't like it?"

"His name is William. I thought he'd like Will if he wanted something shorter. Billy is a new thing and no, I suppose I don't really like it and I'm not even sure where it came from. I was hoping it was just going to be a short phase but he seems committed to telling everyone that it's his name."

"Reinventing himself in a new city?" Jane joked.

"Perhaps," Maura said with a laugh.

"It could be worse. He could want to be called Captain Underpants."

"Why would he want to call himself that?"

"I don't know, but my brother Tommy insisted on it for a while when he was five."

Maura laughed again, not quite sure if Jane was joking or not. They walked out of the elevators and into the suite of labs and offices that made up the medical examiner's department. Maura said hello to the office manager. They had a brief conversation about the supplies and Maura took the applications that had arrived.

As they moved into one of the autopsy suites, Maura said, "While I appreciate the escort Detective Rizzoli, I do know how to get to my office on my own."

"Oh, of course," Jane said, the hint of a blush showing on her cheeks. "I wasn't thinking. Obviously you know where your office is. I'll, uh, let you get to work."

"Oh, um," Maura stammered, inwardly berating herself for attempting what she meant to be a good-natured joke. "I just meant that you're probably very busy, you don't have to stay down here if you have other places you need to be. You've done enough for me already this past week."

Jane shrugged. "I don't have to be anywhere else at the moment. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I just want to unpack these boxes, make sure everything I ordered is here and put the supplies away. If you open the boxes and check the contents against the order form, I'll put things away where I want them. Does that sound okay?"

"Sure," Jane agreed. "You can call me Jane, by the way. You don't have to keep calling me Detective Rizzoli."

"Only if you call me Maura."

Jane started opening boxes and checking the contents against the list Maura gave her. "So, what's your plan covering the case load and Billy's schedule? If you don't mind me asking."

"My plan is to cover Boston, just like the previous Chief M.E. I've received approval to hire another district medical examiner, so there will now be four to cover the rest of the state. I should only have to cover cases outside the city that are high profile or exceptionally difficult for some reason. The crime lab has been understaffed for a while as far as I can tell. I'm hiring more crime scene techs and lab technicians with the goal of getting evidence turned around faster. Hopefully all of these improvements will make my job easier as well so I have evenings with Will. I just hired someone to watch him. She's a graduate student in biology at MIT. She'll pick him up from school, bring him home, and look after him until I get home. I'm still figuring out what's going to happen on late nights or if I get called in the middle of the night."

"You can always ask me if you need someone on short notice," Jane offered. "As long as I'm not working too, I can watch him."

"Oh, Jane, I wouldn't ask you to use your free time to do that."

"Why not? It's not like I'll be doing anything else."

"I wouldn't impose on you like that," Maura protested. Jane just shrugged and Maura had the feeling that she had somehow said something wrong so she decided to change the subject. "Can you tell me about the other Homicide Detectives here at BPD?"

"Oh, um, sure. So, Korsak has been a detective longer than anyone else in the unit. He's, uh, a really great guy and a great detective. You'll like him. He, um…he used to be partner. Frost is my new partner. He's new to Homicide so he's learning, but he's really smart and he can do anything with a computer. I guess I should warn you though that he's still pretty queasy at crime scenes. Don't expect to see him at any autopsies soon. Crowe and Sullivan are partners. Crowe's an asshole so watch out for him, and Sullivan just does whatever Crowe tells him to do. Ortiz and Connolly are fine. That's everyone in my squad. I can't really comment on anyone else because I haven't worked with them."

"Does Korsak have a new partner too?" Maura asked.

Jane frowned and again Maura felt like she had said something wrong as Jane answered, "Um, not right now. I think he should get a promotion to Sergeant soon. He's basically assisting with everyone's cases now, kinda supervising."

Maura nodded in understanding, although she was sure she was missing something, and then she looked around the lab. "I think we're done unpacking. I should go get Will and finish the errands we have to do today before school starts. Thank you for helping again, Jane."

"No problem. I'll walk you back up to the cafe."

They went upstairs and found Billy and Angela deep in conversation. From what Maura could hear as she approached, they were talking about football.

"He had a banana and cookies," Angela said, with a wink directed at Billy.

"Thank you. How much do I owe you?" Maura asked.

"No charge. And anytime you need someone to look after Billy, I'm happy to do it."

"Thank you," Maura said and then ran her hand over Billy's head, smoothing over the light brown hair that was always sticking up on top of his head. "Ready Will?"

"Are we going shopping now?" he asked.

"Yes we are. Can you thank Mrs. Rizzoli?"

"Thank you Mrs. Rizzoli. It was nice to meet you," Billy said.

"Come visit anytime," Angela said to both Maura and Billy.

"Bye Jane," Billy said. "Do you want to play later?"

"We'll see. It depends on when I get out of work today, okay?"

"Okay," he said happily.

Maura smiled at both Jane and Angela, said, "Goodbye," and they left.

Once they were out of earshot, Angela said to Jane, "Billy told me you played football with him last week."

Jane turned her gaze from the door Maura and Billy had just walked out of to her mother. "I did. He's a good kid."

"How are your hands?"

"Fine," Jane answered, unconsciously flexing her fingers. "Nothing a little ibuprofen couldn't handle."

"From talking with him, it sounds like it's just the two of them. Has Dr. Isles mentioned Billy's father or anyone else?" Angela asked.

"No, she hasn't mentioned anyone else, neither has he, and I definitely haven't asked. But I think it's just the two of them. I'm surprised you didn't get their whole life history today," Jane joked.

"She certainly is beautiful." When Jane rolled her eyes at her, Angela said, "Oh please, don't try to pretend you didn't notice. You're already practically following her around like a little puppy."

"Seriously, Ma?" Jane hissed, looking around to see if anyone could hear them.

"Okay, okay, I'm exaggerating," Angela said softly. "But Janie, you haven't dated anyone since before-"

"I know, Ma."

"So I'm happy to see you interested in someone."

"That's not…I'm just being friendly to a new coworker. Don't make a big deal out of it."

Angela narrowed her eyes at Jane. "Fine. Then I'm happy to see you making new friends. You shut yourself away for so long and—."

"So long?" Jane interrupted. "I've only been back at work a few months."

Angela rubbed her hand up and down Jane's arm. "You've been back at work for eight months and all you do is work. I just want to see you happy."

Jane sighed. "I'm working on it."


	3. Chapter 3

After seeing Maura and Billy at headquarters, Jane caught a case that kept her busy for most of the next week. She didn’t end up having any time to play with Billy. She did run into Maura a few times once Maura started working, but Jane didn’t have a new case, and therefore a reason to work with Maura, until Friday.

When Jane arrived at the crime scene, Maura was already there, squatting next to the body and looking as dressed up as she had when she had come into headquarters a week before. Jane couldn’t quite understand wanting to wear a dress and heels to stand over a dead body, but she didn’t really ever want to wear a dress and heels so she figured she wasn’t the best judge of that. Maura did make the dress and heels look good though, that was undeniable. In fact, Jane thought, she had probably never seen anyone make a dress look quite as good as Maura Isles did.

She saw Frost, hovering on the edge of the area immediately surrounding the body, and crime scene technicians working around the body, marking and photographing evidence.

“Jane,” Frost said as she approached. “The new M.E. is looking at the body. I’m going to take a walk around the perimeter, see if I spot anything else of interest or if there are any witnesses lingering around.”

“Yeah, okay,” Jane agreed. “I’ll talk to Dr. Isles.” By the time Jane reached the body, Maura was standing, taking notes on a clipboard.

“Cause of death?” Jane asked without a greeting.

Maura looked a little taken aback at the question and said, “I don’t know yet. I’ll let you know once I’ve done the autopsy.”

For a second, Jane thought Maura must be kidding but when no further explanation was coming, she said, “Come on, you must have a guess. There are marks on the neck, do you think he was strangled?”

“I don’t guess, Detective.”

Jane looked around to see who was paying attention to their conversation. She moved closer to Maura so she could say more quietly, “Are you serious? You can’t give me anything from your examination of the body right now?”

“I can’t tell you anything conclusive. I will provide you with information from the autopsy and forensic evidence as soon as possible.”

“Do you at least have a time of death?”

“Based on the state of rigor mortis and liver temperature, ten to fourteen hours ago. I’m going back to the lab right now and,” Maura said, looking at her watch, “I should start the autopsy within two hours. I’ll get you my report as soon as possible.”

Two men came over at Maura’s signal to bag up the body and wheel it away. Maura left, leaving Jane somewhat bewildered by their interaction.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two hours later, Jane entered the autopsy suite just after Maura had finished the external examination of the body and as she was preparing to make the Y incision. Maura was in black scrubs and a white lab coat with a plastic shield over her face. She looked up in surprise when Jane approached the table.

“What are you doing here?” Maura asked. It sounded harsher out loud than she had intended and she cringed.

“I’m here to watch the autopsy,” Jane answered flatly.

“Do you not trust me to do an adequate job?” Maura asked weakly.

Jane grimaced and furrowed her brow, composing her thoughts before she answered. “Unless there is a compelling lead that I should be following instead, I watch every autopsy for my cases. It’s one way I can honor the victims and if there isn’t an obvious lead, the autopsy usually provides our best evidence, which is something I’m sure you are well aware of. The earlier we get that information the better, and I find being able to talk details through with the medical examiner very helpful. I hope that won’t be a problem for you.”

“N-no,” Maura stammered. “Of course it isn’t a problem.”

Jane looked around, making sure there was no one else in the lab at the moment before saying, “Did I do something wrong or something to upset you? I thought we were friends.”

“I…you did?”

“Well yeah, becoming friends at least. Look,” Jane said as she rubbed her hands over her face. “I get it if you want to have this detached professional thing going on at work. I mean, being a woman in a male dominated field you don’t want to look like a pushover. You want all the asshole cops to take you seriously and treat you with respect. I totally get that. But that doesn’t mean you have to be cold.”

“I’m not…that’s not…I’m simply trying to do my job just like you are. I don’t guess, I can’t tell you information simply because you want it right at that moment. That doesn’t make me cold,” Maura said heatedly. “I will provide you with every piece of evidence I can and you have complete confidence in it because the science doesn’t lie and I don’t make mistakes. But you have to respect how I do my job.”

“Okay, I will,” Jane said, nodding. “Do your job so I can do mine.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday evening, Maura knocked on Jane’s door and stood back nervously. A moment later, Jane, in black sweatpants and a gray hoodie, opened the door. “Hey.”

“Hi. I was hoping we could talk for a minute?”

“Sure. Come in, I was just eating some dinner.” 

Jane closed the door behind Maura and Maura followed her into the kitchen, where she realized that by ‘eating dinner,’ Jane meant standing in the kitchen with a bowl of cereal and a beer. “Do you always eat like this?” Maura asked before she could stop herself.

Jane just shrugged in response.

“I want to apologize-” Maura started.

Jane cut her off. “Don’t worry about it.”

Maura shook her head and in frustration at herself blurted out, “Queen of the Dead.”

“What?”

“That’s what the homicide detectives in San Francisco called me. Queen of the Dead.”

“Why would they call you that?”

“They didn’t particularly like me. They respected my work but they didn’t like me. I never asked them why though. Maybe they thought I was cold.”

“I’m sorry about saying that,” Jane said genuinely.

“Don’t be sorry. I appreciate your honesty.”

“You’re not though and I shouldn’t have said that. You’re not the Queen of the Dead,” Jane said, punctuating the statement by stabbing her spoon in Maura’s direction.

“You can’t know that. You barely know me,” Maura said softly.

“Not yet, but I’m pretty good at reading people and from the time we’ve spent together I know that’s not who you are.” 

Maura blushed in embarrassment and changed the topic. “William wants to invite you to watch football with us tomorrow. I have the package with all of the games so he can still watch the 49ers. We’ll be watching their game at 4:30. Maybe you could come over for the game and dinner?”

“Are you inviting me or is Billy?”

“Will wanted me to ask you and I told him I would. But I’d be happy if you joined us too.”

“Okay. I’ll be there.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


The next day, Jane knocked on Maura’s door right at 4:30. Maura opened the door wearing a pair of skin tight jeans, a silk sleeveless blouse, and heels.

“Do you always dress like you’re about to do a photo shoot?” Jane asked, feeling oddly underdressed in her jeans and t-shirt.

“What do you mean?” 

“Nevermind,” Jane said, chuckling, as she followed Maura to the living room. 

“Would you like something to drink?” Maura asked. “I can open a bottle of wine.”

“Just some water would be fine, thanks,” Jane answered. Billy was sitting on the floor, wearing a 49ers jersey and holding his football. Jane said, “Hey Billy,” as she sat down on the couch.

“Jane, the Patriots won. The 49ers game just started,” Billy said excitedly.

The 49ers and the Packers traded touchdowns in the first half. With each 49ers touchdown, Billy danced around the room, high-fiving everyone, and Maura responded enthusiastically. He was less attentive when the 49ers were on defense, spending that time reciting information about the teams and asking Jane if she knew a million obscure facts about football.

Jane and Maura chatted a little about their last case, with Jane filling Maura in on how she and Frost presented the forensic evidence to the suspect and were able to get a confession. 

The score was tied at halftime and Maura said to Jane, “I’m going to work on dinner. We’ll eat right after the game.”

“Would you like some help?” Jane asked.

“No, thank you, you two stay here and I’ll take care of it.”

With Billy sitting on the floor in front of her and fixated on the television, Jane used the opportunity to look around the living room more closely. Shelving lining two walls of the room was filled with books, pieces of sculpture, and pictures that were mostly of Billy with a few of both Billy and Maura. She wanted to get up and look at everything more closely, but didn’t want Maura to come back and catch her snooping.

Instead she said to Billy, “How’s school?”

“Good,” he answered.

“Yeah? Anything interesting so far?”

“It’s pretty normal, I guess,” he answered vaguely.

Jane realized she didn’t actually know where he was going to school and she didn’t really know what else to ask so she dropped the questioning. She could play sports with a ten year old but anything beyond that was mostly a mystery to her. 

He asked her, “Do you catch bad guys like my mom?”

Jane wondered how much he understood about what Maura’s job was, but she said, “Yes. I’m a detective and your mom and I work together sometimes.”

“Do you have a gun?”

Jane chuckled and answered, “Yes, detectives carry a gun.”

“Do you shoot people?”

“Um, using my weapon is a last resort for if someone is dangerous and an immediate threat to other people’s safety.”

Apparently that was a good enough answer because he said, “That’s cool,” and then turned back to the television.

When Maura returned she said, “Are you sure you don’t want a glass of wine?”

“Do you have any beer?”

“No, sorry.”

“I’ll stick with the water. But thanks.” 

The rest of the game passed without much conversation. It was difficult to talk much more about work with Billy in the room and neither woman was sure what other topics to broach.

Late in the fourth quarter, the 49ers took the lead for good and Maura went to the kitchen to finish dinner. After the game, Billy led Jane to the kitchen where there was a small dining table that had been set with three place settings. 

Billy directed Jane where to sit and Maura set plates of food in front of them. “Baked curry chicken and quinoa,” she said to Jane.

“Thank you. It smells good.”

During dinner Maura asked Billy questions about his classes and after school activities  for the upcoming week and Jane observed their interaction. Billy wasn’t as animated as when he was talking about football, but he clearly liked school and was already engaged in a number of the classes. Also, Maura clearly knew what questions to ask. 

When he was done eating, Maura said, “Go get in your pajamas and brush your teeth. You can read whatever you want in bed. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Do you want to watch the game again next week?” Billy asked Jane before he left.

“We’ll see,” Jane answered with a glance at Maura to unsuccessfully try to gauge her reaction to Billy’s invitation. “I might have to work.”

“Okay. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Billy.”

Jane and Maura finished eating in silence until Jane said, “The food was delicious. Thank you for dinner.”

“My pleasure,” Maura responded. Jane moved to pick up Billy’s plate and clear the dishes from the table, but Maura stopped her with a hand on her forearm. “You don’t have to do that. I’ll clean up later. But will you wait while I put him to bed? It will take ten, maybe fifteen, minutes.”

Jane nodded. “Sure.”

Maura left the kitchen and Jane cleaned the dishes anyway. Then she sat back down in the living room, switching the television over to the Sunday night game while she waited for Maura. When Maura returned she sat down on the other end of the couch and slipped off her heels before tucking her legs underneath her and facing Jane.

Jane turned off the television and said, “You’re not a big fan of football, are you?”

“Actually, I appreciate the athleticism and skill of the players and the strategy and intelligence required to play the game. It is an incredibly complex game but no, I’m definitely not as enthusiastic about it as Will is. It is also incredibly dangerous and I am dreading the day Will wants to really play because I don’t know if I can say yes but I don’t know how I’m going to tell him no. ”

“Has he played any other sports?” Jane asked.

“Soccer the past few summers. He recently started talking about possibly wanting to play baseball. He started paying more attention to baseball this summer, but football has obviously eclipsed that now.”

“Baseball sounds good. I will have to make sure he’s a Red Sox fan though. What about you? What are you in to?”

“Well, science,” Maura answered with a small smile. “I like art and music. But a lot of my free time is dictated by Will’s interests now.”

“I noticed the sculpture pieces around the room.”

“A few of them were done by my mother. The others I’ve collected over the years.”

“Your mother is an artist?”

“Yes. She mostly works in mixed media and non-traditional materials now, but she used to do a lot of sculpture. These are some of her early pieces.”

Jane nodded although she really had no idea what Maura was talking about.

“What about you?” Maura asked. “What are your interests?”

“Oh, um, I don’t know. I don’t have time for much outside of work. If I’m not working or doing something for my family, I usually just hang out at home and read a crime novel.”

“You spend your free time reading crime novels?”

“Yeah, I guess that’s kinda lame, huh?”

“No, it’s…” Maura was going to say cute, but stopped herself.

“What?” Jane said laughing.

“It’s nice,” Maura said instead, smiling.

“Okay, well, I should get going.” Jane stood. “Thanks for dinner.”

Maura followed Jane to the door. “Thanks for coming over. It means a lot to Will.”

“Sure. I’ll see you later.”

“Goodnight,” Maura said, closing the door behind Jane.


	4. Chapter 4

Maura never bothered to understand the intricacies of how homicide detectives got assigned to cases in the San Francisco Police Department. It didn't impact her handling of the case. She did the autopsy, oversaw the processing of forensic evidence, and wrote her reports. After enough cases, she could tell which detectives were better than others, either because they actually cared about the victims or simply because they were good at their job. But she never went to the trouble of trying to predict when those detectives would be at a crime scene.

So it came as somewhat of a surprise that she found herself wondering when Jane would be at a crime scene again. She wondered how the Boston Police Department detectives got assigned cases, if there was a set rotation, or if it depended on their currently open cases. She wondered if Jane ever had to work night shifts, and if that meant that they could go weeks without seeing each other at work.

Maura wondered all of this as she drove to a crime scene in Cambridge where she knew she wouldn't be seeing Jane. As part of preparing to take this job, Maura had researched population, murder and crime rates, and overall past death rates in cities and towns across the state in order to divide responsibilities among herself and the district medical examiners. Although she assumed she would have to make some adjustments eventually, her region currently included some of the larger Boston suburbs, like Cambridge, Somerville, Watertown, Brookline, and Newton.

This meant that this first month of work involved lots of new police departments and different bureaucracies to learn and lots of people to meet. Every new potential murder victim, like the one this morning, meant a whole new round of introductions. Everything had gone relatively smoothly so far, but still Maura felt herself wishing this morning that she would be seeing a friendly face, and she had to admit she was looking forward to seeing Jane in the autopsy lab again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jane sat with her brother Frankie at the cafe at headquarters. She was drinking coffee and he was eating what looked like a five course breakfast, which of course had been prepared by their mother. Angela had come to work at the cafe a few years ago when it had been nothing but bad coffee and a sad assortment of donuts and pastries. She had taken over the whole operation and turned it into a nice cafe with full breakfast and lunch.

"Do you still have that guy who sells you Red Sox tickets?" Jane asked Frankie.

"Yeah. Do you want me to see if he can get you any?"

"If it's possible for any of the regular season games left. It's gotta be a day game though and I need three tickets."

"Three?" Frankie questioned.

"Four, if you wanna come too."

"Who are you bringing?"

"I want to invite Maura, uh, Dr. Isles and her kid."

"Ah," Frankie said as if Jane had confirmed his suspicions. "Ma said you've been spending a lot of time with her."

"I wouldn't say that exactly. But she's new to town, she's a single mother, and we work together. I'm just trying to be friendly."

"She's pretty easy on the eyes, too," Frankie said.

"Settle down," Jane said, rolling her eyes. "She's nice. I like her. I like her kid. That's all."

"What's her deal anyway?" Frankie asked.

"What do you mean?"

"She moved all the way across the country with a kid, just the two of them."

"And?"

"I don't know, it just seems a little sketchy. Like maybe she's running from something or someone? Who knows what she's hiding."

Jane shook her head. "You know that the Chief Medical Examiner gets appointed by the Governor right? I'm pretty sure they do a thorough background check. Probably call some references."

Frankie shrugged. "I'm just saying it raises some questions. So why do you think she'd want to go to a Red Sox game?"

"Billy, her ten-year-old, loves football and is obsessed with the 49ers, but she said he recently starting watching baseball too. I figured I can make him a Red Sox fan. There's nothing better than a game at Fenway."

"I'll check with my guy and let you know."

"Thanks."

Having a lull in customers, Angela came over to their table and said without any room for argument, "I'm having Father Crowley over for dinner Friday night and you both are going to be there at 6pm."

"Ugh," Jane groaned but Frankie kicked her under the table before she could say anything else.

"Jane, I expect you to be in a dress and Frankie, wear a suit and tie. No excuses," Angela said, punctuating the last statement by jabbing her index finger at Jane and walking away before either of them could argue with her.

Knowing there was no way out of this dinner, Jane joked, "I'm amazed Father Crowley is still willing to risk coming to our house."

"He's a priest, he has to forgive. And you know Ma thinks she has to atone."

"She didn't hit Father Crowley with a car and she wasn't the one who ended her marriage vows. It's not her job to make up for Tommy and Pop being screw ups."

"You know how she is."

Jane shook her head. Frankie never disagreed with their mother the way she did. "Yeah, but I don't know why we have to go on these Catholic guilt trips with her."

"Because we're still here," Frankie said.

Jane dropped her head, knowing that she should be easier on her mother. Tommy and her father weren't the only ones who had put her mother through hell in the past few years. While Jane knew that her mother had done her best to respect Jane's wishes that they forget what had happened to her and move on, she knew her mother still thought about it just as much as she did. "I guess I'll see you Friday night," Jane said as she got up to leave.

"Don't forget the dress," Frankie said loudly as she walked away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maura arrived home Friday evening, to the unexpected sight of Jane coming down the building's stairway in a black dress and heels. "Hi," Maura said while trying to hide how flustered seeing Jane like this was making her.

"Hey," Jane said sheepishly. Maura was staring at her and she looked down, expecting to find she had somehow messed up the dress while walking the two flights down the stairs, but she didn't see anything wrong. "What is it?" she asked. "Do I look terrible or something?"

Maura shook her head. "No," she answered emphatically. "You look…you look gorgeous."

"Oh," Jane said, feeling the heat rising to her cheeks. "Thank you."

"Do you have a date?" Maura managed to ask.

"No," Jane said with laugh. "I'm going to my mother's house for dinner, but she invited the priest from our church so that means I have to wear a dress."

Maura wasn't able to follow that logic. "You have to wear a dress for the priest?"

"Yeah, it's kind of a long story, but the Rizzoli family doesn't have the best track record with him so my brother and I have to be on our best behavior or my Ma will lose her mind."

"Your brother Tommy will be there too?" Maura asked, remembering Jane had previously mentioned a brother named Tommy.

"Uh, no, my other brother Frankie. He's a cop too. I'm sure you'll meet him sometime. Tommy, uh, lives farther away and he's kinda the main reason the rest of us have to be on good behavior," Jane cryptically explained, but she noticed that Maura didn't seem to be paying close attention to what she was saying anyway. Instead Maura was clearly checking her out. Jane suppressed a grin and said, "I should go so I'm not late. I'll see you later."

Maura's gaze snapped backed up to Jane's face. "Yes, of course. See you later," Maura said, shaking her head at herself. "Oh, Jane, one more thing," Maura managed to say before Jane left. "Sunday, the 49ers play the late night game after Will's bedtime. I'm going to record it so he can watch it Monday. But would you like to do something else with us this weekend? Perhaps we could go back to the park?"

"Sure," Jane said, smiling. "Why don't you text me. You have my number right?"

"Yes."

"Alright. Just text me tomorrow."

"Okay. Goodnight, Jane."

Jane gave a little wave over her shoulder as she left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They agreed to get together Sunday afternoon. Maura said she would pack a picnic lunch. Jane suggested that instead of going back to the nearby park, they go to the Esplanade along the Charles River. Maura agreed, happy to have the opportunity to explore more of the city.

Maura opened her door to Jane's knocking just after 11:00am on Sunday. Jane immediately frowned when she saw Maura and Maura said, "What's wrong?"

"Um, is that what you're wearing?" Jane asked.

It was sunny and hotter than normal for September. Maura had taken the opportunity of what might be the last really warm day of the year to wear a pale yellow sundress and sandals. "Well…yes. Is there something wrong with this?"

"I just though maybe you would play some with us today, instead of watching, and that probably wouldn't be the best outfit. But it's up to you, no big deal if you would prefer to just watch."

Maura took in Jane's own outfit of sneakers, cargo shorts, and a t-shirt with the Boston Police Department logo on the front and said, "You're right. Let me change quickly."

"It is a very nice dress," Jane called after her, sort of regretting suggesting Maura change as she watched her walk away. Billy came into the living room then and Jane said, "Hey, buddy, ready to go?"

"Yes!" he answered enthusiastically. "Mom packed sandwiches and water and a blanket and the football."

"Great. There's other stuff at this park too. We might find some other stuff to do once we're there. We don't have to just play football."

"Okay," he said agreeably.

Jane noted that she hadn't yet seen him be disagreeable about anything and Jane wondered if he ever fought with Maura about anything. While they waited for Maura to change, Jane used an app on her phone to request a cab and received a message that one would be there within ten minutes.

Maura came back after changing into a pair of cargo capris and a tank top covered by an unbuttoned sheer long sleeve shirt. She picked up a big soft sided cooler and a large tote bag and said, "I'm ready." Jane had a small backpack slung over her shoulder in which she'd packed water and extra sunblock and she quickly moved to take the cooler from Maura's hand.

They went outside and waited a few minutes for the cab. Jane explained it was easiest to take a cab because there was no parking along the river and the closest parking they would find could be blocks away. When the cab arrived they all piled in the back and Jane directed the driver to the north end of Dartmouth Street where they could take a footbridge over Storrow Drive to get to the Esplanade.

The cab dropped them off and Jane led them over the footbridge and down a pathway to get to a larger open area of grass along the river. There were other groups with picnic blankets spread on the grass, along with cyclists who were taking a break from their ride to look at the view, and runners and cyclists using the paved paths.

Maura pointed to a spot under a tree and they spread out the blanket in the shade. Billy immediately took his football out of the bag and said, "Jane, can we do the passing routes like before?"

"Sure, but I think your mom might want to play this time, too."

Maura was taking off her long sleeve shirt and she said, "I know the passing routes. Post, slant, corner, quick out, hook." At Jane's raised eyebrows, she said with a grin, "I was paying attention last time, too."

"How about we all pass the ball around a little and then we'll run some plays?" Jane suggested. Billy was already running to get into position and Jane looked at Maura and asked, "Okay? Need any pointers?"

"We'll see," Maura said.

Jane moved to form the third point in their triangle and Billy threw the ball to Maura. It was a low throw and she almost caught it, but it dropped to the ground. Billy wasn't great at throwing but he could catch pretty well and Jane assumed that's why wanted to play where he was the wide receiver rather than doing a lot of throwing. Maura picked up the ball and threw it to Jane. It was a little wobbly but it got to her. They played like that for a while with varying degrees of success and with Billy providing energetic commentary the whole time.

"Is everyone warmed up?" Jane asked when she noted that Billy seemed to be getting bored. She went back to stand next to Maura and said, "Alright, let's see what you got." They took turns throwing the ball to Billy as he ran around, calling the routes he wanted to run himself.

"Did you play any sports as a kid?" Jane asked Maura.

"I did ballet and fencing," Maura answered.

"How did you end up doing fencing?"

"My school had fencing. I didn't participate in any team sports, at least not ones where it's not just you against an opponent or performing for yourself. Sometimes I think I missed out. How did you learn to play football?"

"I had two brothers and a neighborhood full of kids. There was always some sort of game happening."

Maura made a successful pass to Billy and asked, "So, how am I doing?"

"You know, last time you made it sound like you had no athletic skills., but you're pretty good," Jane said. "I could give you a couple of pointers, though."

Maura flipped the ball to Jane and said, "Okay."

"If you turn your body a little more you can really step into the throw and get more power behind it. And make sure you come over the top on the throw, rather than from the side. That will help with accuracy." Jane demonstrated the motion and threw a pass to Billy who had been standing and watching their conversation.

He threw the ball back to Jane and she tossed it to Maura. Maura resisted the very strong and unbidden urge to ask Jane to come show her exactly how she should move her body. Instead she tried to replicate what Jane had done and threw the ball to Billy. She smiled at Jane and asked, "How was that?"

"Very good," Jane said, smiling back and holding Maura's gaze.

"Mom, I'm hungry," Billy said, walking between them on his way to their blanket.

"Okay, honey. Let's have lunch." Maura glanced back at Jane, meeting her gaze for another moment before following Billy.

Jane learned that Maura's version of sandwiches meant an entire salad stuffed into some sort of fancy wrap, along with some sort of goat cheese, crackers, and raspberries on the side. Jane had to admit it did taste good, although she couldn't imagine herself at ten years old eating it all as easily or happily as Billy was eating.

After lunch, Jane was ready for a nap, but Billy was up and ready to play some more. Her hands still needed a break from football so she asked them both, "Wanna go over to the dock and get a better look at the river?"

"Why don't you two go," Maura said. "I think I'm going to relax here with my book."

"Billy? Wanna check it out?"

"Okay," he said with a shrug.

"Uh, Maura?" Jane said quietly. "I won't let him fall in or anything, but can he swim?"

"He's a good swimmer," Maura answered with a laugh, although she added, "But please don't let him fall in."

Jane and Billy went out to the dock. The water level was low enough that they could sit on the edge, legs dangling over the water. Jane pointed out landmarks on both sides of the river like the MIT campus on the Cambridge side, and the Prudential and Hancock buildings, the weather beacon, and the Citgo sign behind them and to their west on the Boston side.

"What's that thing?" Billy asked, pointing east down the river.

Jane looked where he was pointing at a boat that was moving towards them. "That is a duck boat."

"What's that?"

"It's a vehicle that can go both on the road and in the water. The military used similar ones but these ones take people on tours. They go on the street through downtown Boston and then finish the tour by coming into the river."

"Can we go on one?" he asked excitedly.

"Yeah, maybe sometime this fall, but we may have to wait until spring. They won't run much longer this year. We'll ask your mom." Jane looked at the other boaters on the water and said, "Have you ever gone kayaking?"

"We went on vacation once. Can we do that here too?"

"Yeah, there are some places that rent kayaks and canoes. What about biking. Do you have a bike?"

"No."

"Hmm. We'll have to figure that one out."

"I don't know how to ride a bike," he said sort of quietly, like he was embarrassed about that fact.

"That's okay. You can learn. If you want to."

"Maybe next year," he agreed with more confidence.

"Why don't we go back and check on your mom?" Jane suggested.

Billy got up and Jane followed him back to their spot. Everyone agreed that they were ready to head home so they packed everything up and walked back over the footbridge and over to Beacon Street to get a cab to bring them home.

Back at their building, Maura unlocked her apartment door and let Billy inside. She turned back to Jane so she could get the cooler and said, "Thank you for today."

Jane leaned against the wall next to Maura's door. "You don't have to thank me. I should be thanking you."

"Why would you have to thank me?" Maura asked genuinely.

Jane dropped her head and sighed, a little embarrassed by her statement. "I just, um…recently, I guess, I haven't been getting out much. Today was nice."

"Yes, it was nice," Maura said softly.

"So, thank you for inviting me to do stuff with you. It's helping me get out of the house, I guess. And I have a nice time with you…and Billy, of course."

Maura wished she knew the perfect way to respond to that statement that conveyed both that she felt the same way and was delighted that Jane even wanted to spend time with her. But she didn't know how to say that. Instead she said, "Would you like to join us for dinner?"

"Thanks, but I should really take care of some things," Jane said reluctantly. "I should get going and let you do whatever you need to for the rest of the day."

Maura watched Jane walk to the stairs before saying, "You're welcome to join us anytime, Jane."

Jane turned around to say, "Thanks," before going up to her apartment.

 


	5. Chapter 5

Maura was surprised to realize a month had passed since she had moved. In some ways it felt like no time had gone by and in others it felt like ages since she had been in San Francisco. She was fully immersed in her work here and Will seemed fully immersed in his new school and new friends. She asked him recently if he wanted to call or Skype any of his friends in San Francisco but he hadn’t seemed interested. 

Now Will was cuddled up next to her on the couch watching their third Red Sox game of the week while she tried to work on her laptop. She was paying more attention to him than the game or her work. He had always been an affectionate kid, much to Maura’s relief. Unlike herself when she was a child, he was quick to give hugs or sit in her lap or take her hand in public, but that was starting to change. He still liked to be close to her at home and wanted to do things like sit in her lap to read a book before bed. But in public he was avoiding things like hugs and wouldn’t hold her hand anymore. Maura knew it was only a matter of time until he stopped doing these thing at home too and she was more careful to enjoy these moments while they lasted. 

Will was watching the Red Sox because they were going to a game with Jane and he immediately developed an obsession, made worse by the fact that he could only watch the first two or three innings of the games this week before bed. He was doing his best to learn all about the team and players in his limited time before the game.

Jane had come to her office early in the week to invite them to go to the game with her on Sunday. Maura was surprised and touched by the gesture but had rather tactlessly asked if there was anyone else Jane would rather invite. Only when Jane explained that she got the tickets in order for the three of them to go together did Maura notice how nervous and actually shy Jane seemed about asking her. Maura quickly said that they would love to go.

The following evening Jane had stopped by with a blue Dustin Pedroia t-shirt and a baseball glove for Will. Jane asked her the previous day if he had a glove, but Maura hadn’t expected her to go out and get him one. Jane and Will had huddled together so she could explain to him how to break in the glove. As far as Maura could tell that process involved wearing the glove all evening, punching it a lot, and sticking it under his mattress with a ball inside while he slept. 

Maura was pleased, although a bit mystified, by the immediate connection Will and Jane seemed to have formed. Will had always made friends easily with other kids but adults usually didn’t hold much interest for him. Now he was constantly telling her something Jane had done or said during the few times they had spent time together.

After Will told her for the tenth time something Jane had said about his glove, she asked out of genuine curiosity, “Why do you like Jane so much?”

He shrugged. “She likes football and she’s nice. She talks to me.”

Maura rubbed her hand over his head, thinking it was time for him to get a haircut. “What do you mean she talks to you?”

“She talks about normal stuff like sports and she likes to do things. And she listens to things I say.”

“That makes sense.”

“Do you like Jane?” he asked.

“Yes, I like her too.”

“Do you see her a lot at work?”

“Not really. I work with a lot of departments and a lot of detectives so we only work together occasionally.”

“Maybe she should come over for dinner more,” he suggested.

“She’s probably busy a lot, but we’ll see.”

Will snuggled in closer to her and asked, “Can I watch one more inning?”

It was already past his bedtime but Maura said, “Sure. One more.”

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Beginning the year Jane turned seven, her father took her and her brothers to one Red Sox game every summer. That was when you could go to Fenway Park and buy tickets the day of the game. Now you had to buy tickets months in advance or be prepared to pay well over face value for tickets from either official or unofficial ticket resellers. But Frankie knew someone who would sell him tickets at face value when he had them and had been able to sell her three tickets for Sunday’s game. 

Jane still remembered the first game she had ever gone to at Fenway. It was just her, Frankie and her father. Tommy was too young to go that year, at least according to her mother. They had seats in the outfield bleachers and she remembered coming up the stairs from the concession area underneath the stadium and seeing the field for the first time. She didn’t remember any details of the actual game. She thought the Red Sox won but she wasn’t sure and she didn’t remember who they played. But she still remembered how green the grass was and how big the Green Monster looked.

For today’s game their tickets were in the left field grandstand. Certainly not the best seats in the park but good enough and they were close to the Green Monster which Jane thought Billy might find cool.  

She wanted to recreate her first experience as best as possible if not better. Instead of the outfield, she had them enter the stands behind home plate. She watched Billy’s eyes light up and he said, “Wow!”

Jane finally started to relax after that reaction. Since Maura’s initial response to her invitation she had been unexpectedly nervous about the day. She was afraid that she had misread something about their growing friendship or that inviting them to a game was somehow too much, but in the end she had to assume Maura was just being overly polite. And there was no backing out then anyway, so she went forward with her plan and got Billy the t-shirt and baseball glove. He was wearing both items right now so that seemed to be a success at least. 

Billy took in everything in almost total silence, which impressed Jane since it was the longest time she had experienced him going without talking, as they walked through the stands to their seats. Once they were seated Jane pointed out a few things in the park, explaining how the monster seats had only been there for ten years and telling him about the red seat in the right field bleachers marking the longest home run ever hit inside the park. But then she just let him take it all in.

“How often do you come to games?” Maura asked Jane after the first inning. 

“My father took me and my brothers to a game every year when I was kid. I used to try to come a few times a season, but the past couple of years I haven’t made it.”

“Is your father still—“ Maura started to ask and then realized too late that was maybe a far too personal question.

“Alive?” Jane said, finishing the question for her. “He’s alive but about a year ago he left my mother and ran off with a woman half his age.” After pausing for a moment she continued, “He calls every once in a while but I don’t answer. I know Frankie talks to him but I don’t know what to say to him. It’s not like I don’t want him to be happy, but he just walked out one day with no warning and I can’t understand how he could do that to my mother. So anyway, I haven’t seen him in a year.”

“What about your brother Tommy. You said he lives far away, right?”

Jane was silent for a moment. Then she leaned closer so she could say quietly, “Tommy an alcoholic. He was driving drunk and hit Father Crowley. He’s in prison.” Maura’s mouth hung open as she tried to formulate a response. “Don’t worry about it,” Jane said, taking pity on her. “You didn’t know and I could have said something earlier. What about you? Do you have siblings?” 

“No. Actually, technically I don’t know if I have any biological siblings. I was adopted. I didn’t grow up with any brothers or sisters.”

“Oh.”

Before Jane could ask, Maura said, “I don’t know anything about my biological parents.”

“Do you want to?”

Maura tilted her head thoughtfully. “Sometimes. But it was a private adoption and the records are sealed. There’s not much I can do about it.”

The conversation cut off as Billy grabbed their attention when the Red Sox started to get some hits in the second inning. Three singles and one run scored before Jackie Bradley Jr. smacked a home run to right field, which got everyone up and cheering. 

The rest of the afternoon Jane and Maura focused on Billy, the game, and things going on in the ballpark, not returning to their somewhat awkward personal revelations. David Ortiz homered to right field in the sixth inning and the Red Sox won the game 5-2, leaving everyone in a good mood.

Jane had them wait for the crowd to disperse a little and then led them closer to the field. She surreptitiously flashed her badge at an usher and a security guard so they could walk to the edge of field behind the third base dugout and then walk around the edge of the field behind home plate and along the first base side of the field, so Billy could really see everything up close before they left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While Maura and Billy were settling into a regular schedule, Jane and Frost caught a string of seemingly related cases that had them working long hours and left little time for doing anything other than sleeping outside of work. It did mean that Jane and Maura had more opportunities to work together. Despite the rocky start, they found a rhythm at work, mostly because Jane did her best to be patient and wait for Maura to complete her work. 

Somewhat to her surprise, Jane found that this tactic worked extremely well. She didn’t have to demand answers or push for results because Maura was more often than not a step ahead of her. Jane could just watch the autopsy and ask questions as she had them without worrying that something was going to be missed. She also discovered that Maura was helpful in discussing other aspects of the cases too. Maura had knowledge about a huge variety of subjects and often was able to fill in details about random pieces of evidence. 

Jane found herself going down to Maura’s office to run things by her on a regular basis and although they rarely talked about personal things, she felt she was getting to know Maura better as a person. Maura was brilliant and reserved and a little awkward at times, and Jane could see how her past colleagues might have been either intimidated or put off by her if they didn’t get to know her beyond the surface. But Maura was also warm and kind and interesting, and Jane found herself looking for excuses to go talk to her. 

Still, Jane was honestly surprised when she was in the car with Frost after tracking down a possible, but ultimately useless, witness and he asked, “What’s up with you and Dr. Isles?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you’re nice to her for one thing.”

“I can’t be nice?” Jane responded.

“You weren’t nice to the last M.E. You were constantly demanding he do things faster and asking him a million questions in a tone that very much suggested you thought he was an idiot. You’re going easy on Dr. Isles.”

“I’m not going easy on her. She’s simply better at her job than Dr. Walsh. He was slow and he missed things. She doesn’t.”

Frost grinned, enjoying teasing his normally unflappable partner. “What are you always going down to chat with her about?”

“She’s nice. If you would go near a victim’s body, you would know that.” That shut Frost up, but Jane immediately felt bad about it. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that.”

“No, you’re right. I need to work on that.”

“You should ask Dr. Isles if she has any tips for getting used to working with dead bodies. I bet she can help,” Jane suggested.

“Yeah, maybe.”

Jane sighed. “Look, I like her, okay. I like spending time with her and I like spending time with her kid even though I usually don’t even really like kids. I don’t have a lot of friends—”

“I’m your friend,” Frost interjected.  

“You’re my partner,” Jane responded. “We’re friends, but it’s different. We’re responsible for each other’s safety in life and death situations. It’s a different relationship.”

“Jane, I’m just teasing. You like her, that’s cool.”

They drifted into silence until Jane said, “One of the reasons I like hanging out with Maura is that she wasn’t here for the Hoyt case. She doesn’t look at me differently now like everyone else does.”

“That happened more than a year ago. No one is thinking about it anymore.”

“That’s easy for you to say but I see the way people look at me. I know people still talk about it and I know not everyone sees me the same as they used to. I wouldn’t be surprised if Maura’s heard by now what happened but at least it seems like she likes me and she’s not being nice to me out of pity.”

Frost parked the car in the headquarters parking lot and said, “I still think that it’s less of a big deal for everyone than you think it is. But like I said, you like her and that’s cool.”

“Alright, enough of this sappy stuff,” Jane said seriously. “Let’s go to the Robber and get a beer.” 


	6. Chapter 6

Over the next couple of weeks, Jane and Maura spent more and more time together. At work, Jane continued to visit Maura in her basement offices. Eventually Jane realized Maura always ate lunch in her office. She convinced Maura that she could easily get her small salad from the cafe, promising her mother would make her whatever she wanted, and they started eating lunch together when they were both available.

Jane learned more about Maura's emotionally distant parents and a childhood filled with boarding schools and intellectual pursuits. Jane talked about growing up with her brothers and going to plumbing jobs with her father.

During this time the Red Sox were making their way through the playoffs. Jane would have liked to watch more games with Billy but the timing wasn't working out. She had to work all through their first series with Tampa Bay. The first two games against the Detroit Tigers had been on too late for him to watch. They did watch Game 3 together. It was a fantastic pitcher's duel with the Red Sox winning 1-0. But Jane thought it was a little boring to Billy. She remembered how when she was a kid, offense was the interesting part of the game, so she understood if he was bored. But the rest of series was all late night games again. She was going to have to convince Maura to let Billy stay up late to watch at least some of the upcoming World Series games.

One evening Jane answered knocking at her door to find Maura once again standing on the other side.

"I'm really sorry," Maura immediately said. "The medical examiner on call has a family emergency and there's a possible murder-suicide in Lynn and someone needs to go to the scene. I'm really sorry to ask, but could you watch Will while I'm gone. It should only take a couple of hours and it's his bedtime anyway."

"Okay."

"Really? Are you sure? I don't want to impose on you."

"Maura, it's fine. I don't mind," Jane assured her.

Jane went down to their apartment. Billy was already in his bed with a book. Jane looked in and said hello. Maura told him it was time for lights out and then spent five minutes telling Jane all the things she could do if he didn't fall asleep and what to do if there were any emergencies. Finally, Jane reminded her that she was a cop and that everything was going to be fine.

After Maura left, Jane took the opportunity to do a closer inspection of Maura's living room. She looked at the pictures on the shelves around the room, all of Billy at different ages. A few included both of them, but there was nothing that provided any clues to whether there was an ex-husband somewhere or if Billy's father was involved in his life at all.

Jane went down the hall and peaked into Billy's room. He was fast asleep. She closed his door and went to the end of the hall and looked into Maura's room. It was a stark contrast to her own bedroom, which typically featured an unmade bed and was strewn with dirty clothes. Maura's room was immaculately clean and, Jane noted, it smelled really good.

Jane went back to the living room, lay down on the couch, and drifted off to sleep. She woke up to the sound of the apartment door opening and heels clicking across the wood floor of the entryway. She sat up on the couch and tried to rub the sleep from her eyes. She heard Maura walk into the room and managed a husky, "Hey."

"Everything go okay?" Maura asked as she shrugged off her coat.

"Of course," Jane answered. She glanced at the clock and saw it was almost midnight.

"Thank you. Will you stay for a few minutes and have a drink with me?" Maura asked.

"Sure."

Maura briefly rested a hand on Jane's shoulder as she walked by and said, "Just give me a minute and I'll get us drinks. You can stay right there." Jane leaned back into the couch cushions as Maura walked down the hall, presumably to check on Billy, and then she went into the kitchen. A moment later she returned, turning off the overhead light and turning on a softer table lamp, before sitting down on the couch with a glass of wine and handing Jane a beer.

"Where did this come from?" Jane asked as she took the beer.

"You never drink wine, but I've seen you drink this kind of beer. I wanted to have some for when you come over."

Jane smiled and said, "Cheers," holding out her bottle for Maura to tap her wine glass against. "How did the crime scene go?" she asked.

"It was a mess. But based on the evidence at the scene it did look like a murder suicide."

"At least it was a straightforward case to get called out to."

Maura nodded. "Thank you again. Not just for tonight, but for the past two months, for all of the time you've spent with William. I think you've made this move a lot easier and enjoyable for him, and I know you have for me too."

Jane smiled shyly. "You know, a lot of people would say that I'm generally not very good company. I'm usually not very good at…talking," Jane said with a self-deprecating laugh.

"Neither am I," Maura said softly.

They lapsed into a moment of awkward silence until Jane said, "Can I ask you a personal and possibly inappropriate question?"

Maura considered and answered with her own question, "Can I ask you a question in return?"

"I guess that would be the fair thing to do."

"Okay. Ask me whatever you want to ask."

"I'm asking because I'm curious of course, but partly because I don't want to say something to Billy that could upset him or could be insensitive. Neither of you have mentioned anyone and I've been wondering if his father is in the picture?"

Maura wasn't shocked by the question. "I'm a little surprised you didn't ask earlier. Most people ask about my husband as soon as they know I have a child."

"It's really none of my business and it feels kind of rude to ask."

"I don't mind you asking me personal questions, Jane." Maura kicked off her heels, folded her legs in front of her, and leaned back against the pillows propped against the arm of the couch.

Jane watched her and the first thought that came to her mind was that Maura looked extremely kissable right now. Jane looked away before that thought could continue and waited for Maura to answer the question.

"Will's father isn't in the picture. Usually when people ask about his father I say I used a sperm donor. It's not technically a lie and it's common enough now that people usually don't ask a lot of follow up questions."

Jane raised her eyebrows. "Not technically a lie?"

"Well, anytime there is a pregnancy, a man does donate sperm."

"Wow, okay. That's true, I guess. But I'm assuming you didn't use like a sperm bank?"

"No, I didn't. I haven't actually told anyone what happened since I was actually pregnant, and even then it was only my parents."

"Maura, you don't have to tell me anything else. You already answered my question."

Maura shook her head and said simply, "I want to tell you," before continuing her story. "After I completed my pathology residency I spent a year in Ethiopia with Doctors Without Borders. I had a relationship with one of the other doctors while I was there. His name was Ian. We were in a completely remote location, working usually sixteen hours a day, and, probably because the situation was extreme in so many ways, in our free moments we had this very intense, passionate relationship."

Jane cringed internally but tried to maintain a neutral expression. This wasn't exactly what she was expecting to hear about, nor was it something she really wanted to hear. But, she supposed, this was the type of thing female friends talked to each about.

"It was almost entirely physical. We were using each other as a distraction and release from the stress of our surroundings. Not that I didn't like him in many ways, but I knew there no long term potential. Ian was, and still is, entirely focused on his work. He travels from one remote location to another, setting up clinics and bringing supplies. The only time he takes a break is when he travels somewhere to pick up more medication or other supplies. I knew when my year was done, I was leaving and that would be the end of it."

"So what happened?"

"A few weeks after I got back to the United States, I realized I was pregnant. It was entirely unexpected. I know nothing is one hundred percent effective, but we were always safe, so I was surprised and honestly a little embarrassed. At first, I thought there was no way I could have a baby. I wasn't in a relationship. I didn't have a job. But once I thought about for a little while I decided that it was a great time to have a child. I was thirty years old and there was no prospect of a long term relationship in the immediate future. I thought it might actually be easier to have a child early in my career. And Ian was the perfect sperm donor: smart, handsome, tall, healthy. So I had William and I think it was the best decision I've ever made."

In all the time they had spent together, Maura had never spoken so long about herself. Jane didn't want her to stop. "What about Ian? Did you tell him?"

"Of course. He wasn't easy to get in touch with though. There was no phone number or address I could reach him at. I sent him an email to an address I knew he checked when he could, but I didn't know how soon I would get a response. I told him I was pregnant and I was planning to have to the baby. And I said I didn't expect anything from him. I'll admit that while I waited to hear from him, some days I would have this silly fantasy that he was going to tell me he loved me and wanted us to be a family. But I don't think I even really wanted that, not with him anyway. I blame the pregnancy hormones."

"I'm guessing he didn't say that anyway."

"No. He didn't. I sent him paperwork to fill out and he gave up his parental rights. It wasn't contentious. He didn't try to sway me one way or the other about having the baby. I think he was just relieved."

"Do you ever see him?"

"He showed up a few times, with no warning, when William was very young. He wanted help restocking medical supplies and I helped him. I can't fault his commitment to his work, and as I said, I knew what I was getting into with him. The last time, Will was four, and I told Ian that I couldn't help him anymore after that and he couldn't visit anymore."

"So, Billy met him?"

"Sort of. I mean, when Ian visited it was mostly for a place to sleep. He didn't hang around long. I don't think Will would even remember Ian now."

"Has Billy asked about his father?"

"Not in any detail. In San Francisco he was around so many different types of families, I honestly don't think he's thought about it too much. Lots of his friends had single parents or two moms or two dads. But I'm not naive enough to think he's never going to ask."

"What are you going to tell him?"

"The truth. I don't know who my biological parents are or why they gave me up for adoption. I can tell him more than they told me. When he's ready to ask, I'll tell him everything I told you." Jane nodded at that, and Maura asked, "Do you want another beer?"

"No," Jane said reflexively but then said, "Yes."

Maura got up to refill her wine glass and brought Jane another beer.

Jane took a long drink from the bottle and then said, "So what's your personal question for me?"

"What happened to your hands?"

Jane's face darkened and her jaw clenched. She was honestly surprised by the question. She put the beer bottle down and moved her hands into her lap, balling them into fists.

Maura immediately regretted asking. "I'm sorry. That was too personal. I didn't mean to upset you. I was honestly just curious because based on the scars you have, it looks like you experienced a severe trauma to your hands and yet it doesn't appear that you experienced much loss of function or dexterity," she rambled.

Jane face changed from anger to confusion. "You actually don't know what happened, do you?"

"No. How would I know?" Maura answered sincerely.

"Someone could have told you or you could have asked one of the other detectives already."

"No, I haven't…I wouldn't ask anyone else personal information about you. Besides how would I ask anyone. I don't even know when your hands were injured."

Jane rubbed her hands over her face. "Damn," she sighed.

"Jane, I'm so sorry. You don't have to tell me anything."

"I'm not going to tell you all of the details about the case. If you want to read it on your own or ask someone else, you can do that. But I'll tell you what happened to my hands. If I don't, I know you're just going to keep wondering. And someday, someone will say something about it to you anyway. I'd rather you hear about it from me."

Maura kept silent as Jane took another long drink of her beer.

Jane cleared her throat and in a gravelly voice said, "We had a serial killer. Korsak and I were lead on the case, although everyone was working on it. He killed married couples, tortured and killed them. There was even DNA left at the crime scenes but we couldn't match it to anyone. Then we get to a crime scene and everything is the same, except the wife's body wasn't there. Everything else was absolutely the same, there was no way it wasn't our killer. So now we don't know if the wife is dead or alive and we are scrambling to find her. I was probably up for at least forty-eight hours straight."

"Then we get a call reporting suspicious activity at a house in Dorchester from a neighbor who said the house was supposed to be empty. Honestly, I figured it was just kids playing around or maybe squatters, but Korsak and I agreed to meet there to check it out. I was close by and got there first. I looked in the first floor windows from the porch and the place looked abandoned. But then I walked around to the back and I can see that there's a light on in the basement. There's paper over the window, but I can see light coming through. Then I hear something that sounds like a muffled scream."

Maura leaned forward as she listened, not taking her eyes off of Jane's profile as she spoke.

Jane continued, speaking more slowly now. "In the back of the house there was a door into the basement. I should have waited for backup but all I could think was that if our missing victim was alive I had to get to her as soon as possible. The house was pretty run-down and with two kicks I kicked the basement door in. Right in front of me there was a man standing over a woman who was tied up. Charles Hoyt was his name. I raised my gun at him and he just…smiled. All of the sudden there was movement behind me and before I could turn around something hit me over the head and knocked me out.

"There were two people. We only ever found DNA at the crime scenes from one man, but there were two of them in the basement. We don't know why they didn't kill this woman, why they took her or what they were planning to do next, but in the basement were mementos from their other victims, so we know they were our killers."

Jane stopped talking for a moment. During her whole speech she had kept her gaze focused on her lap and she kept it there. It had been almost a year since she had last recounted this story and even then she had only done it for the official police record. She hadn't told anyone else the story like this and she was surprised at how easily the words were coming out now to Maura.

"So he hit me and I fell. When I started to wake up, one of them used a taser on me so I couldn't move long enough for Hoyt to drive a scalpel through each of my palms."

Maura gasped and then quickly covered her mouth with her hand.

Jane swallowed thickly. "I heard noises above us, on the first floor. It was back-up. But Korsak came around back to the basement door like I had. Hoyt was kneeling over me and Korsak shot him. The other guy ran at him and Korsak shot him too. Neither survived. After that I passed out and the next time I woke up I was in the hospital." Jane took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, glancing at Maura for the first time since she began her story. "Okay, if you've got other questions, this is your chance."

"Can I?" Maura asked softly, gesturing at Jane's left hand.

Jane held it out to her and Maura gently took her hand in both of hers. No one other than her doctors and physical therapists had examined or touched her hands like this. Jane shook hands with people, preferring the slight discomfort that accompanied a firm handshake to drawing attention to her hands by refusing or avoiding shaking hands. But otherwise she avoided letting anyone see or touch her scars.

Maura leaned forward, closely examining Jane's hand. It gave Jane the opportunity to look at Maura openly. Her light brown hair was tied back in a ponytail but loose strands hung around her face. Usually at work Maura wore at least some eyeliner and lipstick. Tonight she wasn't wearing anything more than maybe some lip gloss. She looked beautiful.

"I'm amazed at how well you've healed in such a short amount of time," Maura said, finally releasing Jane's hand and looking up, finding that Jane was looking intently at her.

Jane made a noncommittal sound.

"My only question is why isn't Korsak your partner anymore?" Maura said.

"I was out for about six months while my hands healed. I couldn't come back until I could pass the firearms test," Jane said, holding her thumb and index finger like a gun and miming a shooting motion. "When I came back I asked for a new partner. Korsak will say he didn't want a new partner, but…I don't see how he could ever trust me after that. I screwed up and I could have gotten both of us killed. I don't know how he could trust me to back him up after I did something so stupid."

"You were trying to save that woman. It was heroic."

Jane shook her head. "But I didn't follow protocol. I put myself and the rest of my team, and the victim too, in danger. But look, I try not to think about it anymore. For six months it was all I thought about and now it's in the past."

Maura nodded. "I understand. Thank you for sharing that with me."

Jane stood and said, abruptly, "It's late. I'll, uh, see you at work tomorrow, maybe?"

"Yes," Maura said, standing as well to walk Jane to the door.

"And we need to talk about watching the World Series games."

"Okay. Goodnight, Jane."

Jane hesitated a second. After all of their revelations, simply saying goodnight didn't feel like enough, but she wasn't the type of person that just hugged other people and she didn't get the sense that Maura was either. So she just said, "Goodnight," and left.


	7. Chapter 7

After enduring some intense begging, Maura finally compromised with William for the World Series games between the Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals and allowed him to stay up an extra hour each night to watch the beginning of the games. By games 4 and 5, that had stretched to staying up an extra hour and a half to two hours as Maura found herself enjoying the games as well. She also enjoyed being able to discuss the games the next day with Jane and she picked up some of Jane’s enthusiasm. For Game 6, with the Red Sox leading 3-2 in the series, she invited Jane over for dinner beforehand, and at Jane’s prodding, agreed to allow Will to stay up for the whole game.

Jane came over as soon as she got home from work and took Will out front to play catch, this time with his new baseball glove. Maura watched them for a minute, but then excused herself to go make dinner. Will was pretty good at football but he was still learning baseball. Every time Jane threw him the ball, Maura was afraid he wouldn’t put his glove in the right place and end up getting hit in the face. Instead of cringing every time he was catching the ball, Maura decided she would be better off inside. 

Dinner was also kind of a compromise. Earlier in the week Jane had jokingly recited a long list of what she referred to as “game appropriate food,” most of which Maura would not normally feed to Will or eat herself. But Maura decided she could make homemade pizza with skim milk mozzarella cheese and lots of vegetables and that would be close enough.

Jane and Will came inside just as Maura was taking the pizza out of the oven. “How did it go?” she asked Jane while Will went to his room to put his glove away.

“Good. He’s getting better at catching and he’s not afraid of the ball, which is good. Next summer he’s going to do great at little league.”

“Soccer still seems safer, but at least there’s no tackling in baseball.”

Jane resisted rolling her eyes. “Baseball has structure. Soccer is just a mob of kids running around after a ball.”

“I suppose you have a point about that, although it does mean he gets plenty of exercise playing soccer.”

“He’s ten. Isn’t his whole life exercise? He never stops moving,” Jane joked.

“Very funny,” Maura said as she handed two plates of food to Jane. “Go eat. Billy,” she called, “come have dinner.

After eating, they all settled in the living room as the game got underway. Billy took his usually spot on the floor and Jane sat down on the floor as well, leaning back against the couch.

“So, have you decided who your favorite player is?” Jane asked Billy.

“Um,” Billy said, and paused to think before listing, “David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Jon Lester, and Jonny Gomes.”

“Those are all good choices,” Jane responded with a smile.

“Oh, and Jacoby Ellsbury,” he added.

“Of course,” Jane agreed.

From her seat on the couch, Maura asked, “Do you have a favorite player, Jane?”

“Well, I definitely have to agree with Ortiz and Pedroia. I really like Victorino too.”

At the first commercial break, Maura said, “Will, have you decided on a Halloween costume yet?”

“I don’t know. I’m still thinking,” he answered.

“He’s deciding between a baseball player and a football player,” she explained to Jane and then said to Will, “Well, you’ve got one more day to decide. I think we have everything for both costumes.”

“I think I’m going to be a baseball player,” he said, and Maura smiled knowingly at Jane, knowing that his growing allegiance to baseball was almost entirely because of her.

“You know what you could do?” Jane said. “Wear a baseball uniform and a fake beard.  Then you’re like a member of this year’s Red Sox team.”

“Mom, can I?” he said excitedly to Maura and jumping up on the couch with her.

“Yes, as long as I have time to find a fake beard tomorrow,” Maura answered, pulling him into a hug until he squirmed away.

“Do you want to come trick-or-treating with us?” Billy asked Jane.

“Oh, um, I’ll probably end up working late tomorrow. Halloween tends to be a busy day for the police and I usually stick around headquarters in case anyone needs some help.” It wasn't a lie. That was Jane’s plan for Halloween, but it wasn’t something she was obligated to do and she could have gone trick-or-treating. The problem was that Jane was afraid she was enjoying spending time with Maura and Billy too much. She could easily imagine them eating dinner and hanging out together every night. When she came inside today to find Maura making dinner she wanted to press her against the counter and kiss her hello. There were times when she thought Maura was wanted the same thing, but she wasn’t sure and if she wasn’t careful someday she was going to make a fool of herself. Trick-or-treating was the kind of family activity she knew she could get too swept up in.

“Well, if you change your mind, you’re welcome to join us,” Maura said. 

Their attention shifted to the game when after two and a half scoreless innings, the Red Sox broke the game open in the third inning when Shane Victorino doubled with the bases loaded, giving the Red Sox a 3-0 lead, and causing Jane and Billy to jump around the room in excitement as Maura watched in amusement. During the next inning, the Red Sox scored three more times on four hits and two walks, which meant more jumping around. Maura joined in the celebration, high-fiving everyone. 

The Cardinals managed to score one run in the seventh inning, but the Red Sox cruised through the final two innings to win the game and clinch the World Series. They could hear yelling and cheering from other apartments too as they celebrated. Maura’s focus was glued on Jane as she danced with Will in celebration.  

They watched a few minutes of the post-game celebration at Fenway Park before Maura told Will it was time to get ready for bed. He groaned, but didn’t argue as he trudged out of the room towards his bedroom. 

“Goodnight, Billy,” Jane called after him, chuckling when she didn’t get a response.

“These game nights have been fun, but he totally crashes at the end of each night and he’s still half asleep when I drop him off at school,” Maura said, sharing in Jane’s amusement.

“It’s worth it, and I bet all the other kids are in the same state he is, not to mention the teachers.”

“Tomorrow he’ll be full of candy by the end of day and excited from trick-or-treating, so he won’t sleep tomorrow either. I’m looking forward to the weekend when he can catch up on sleep.”

“Well, I’ll go and let you get to sleep too. Thanks for dinner and having me over for the game.”

“Of course.”

Without really thinking about it, Jane stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Maura in a hug, only to pull back quickly in embarrassment when she realized what she was doing. “Uh, goodnight.”

Maura didn’t have to time to respond to the hug before Jane was already walking away from her. “Goodnight, Jane,” she said, almost to herself as Jane left.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Dr. Isles?”

Maura startled and looked up from her desk at the sound of her name, surprised to see Detective Frost standing in her office doorway. Only Jane came down for anything other than an autopsy, and Detective Frost hadn’t come to any autopsies. As far as she knew, he had never come down to her basement suite of offices. “Hello Detective Frost, what can I do for you?”

“Uh, can I come in?” Frost said awkwardly.

“Of course. Please have a seat,” she said, gesturing to the couch in her office and getting up to sit down in the adjacent chair. 

Frost sat down and said, “I was hoping you could help me. I’m sure you already know that I get nauseous around dead bodies and, well, that kind of makes being a homicide detective difficult. I thought it would go away after a little while on the job, but it isn’t getting better.”

“Being sickened by death is nothing to be ashamed of. It shows you have compassion and empathy for the victims. Those are very important traits in a homicide detective,” Maura assured him.

“That’s nice of you to say, but I know if I really want to be good at this job, I have to be able to see the body. And, I really don’t want the other detectives to call me Barf Bag Kid forever.”

Although she hadn’t heard anyone use that nickname, Maura could sympathize. “Just so you know, Jane respects you immensely. She said you were really smart and an expert with computers.”

“She respects you too. That’s actually why I’m here. It was her idea to ask you for help. She thought you might have some ideas on how to get over this.”

“I think immersion therapy is your best option. The only way to get used to dead bodies is to have more experience with them. Does talking about the victim’s bodies make you feel nauseous?”

“No,” Frost answered, shaking his head.

“What about seeing pictures?”

“No.”

“It sounds like you’re already most of the way there. Immersion therapy for something like this can actually work fairly quickly.”

“So what do I do?” he asked.

“We can start with a body before the autopsy is performed. You’ll simply view the body for as long as you can before you feel ill. The next time you’ll try to stay longer. We’ll keep trying until it doesn’t make you sick anymore.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes. That’s it.”

“Okay, I can try that, I guess. Are you sure it’s not an inconvenience to you?”

Maura shook her head. “Not at all, Detective. I’m happy to help in any way I can. Why don’t I let you know when I have autopsies scheduled and you can come when your schedule allows it?”

Frost nodded. “Thank you. I really appreciate your help. I’m going to meet Jane and Korsak for a drink at the Dirty Robber now. Do you want to join us?”

A number of times in the past couple of months Jane had invited Maura out for drinks with some of the detectives at the end of a case. Maura had always declined, citing her desire to get home to make dinner for William. But it was still early and it would be good to socialize with some of the other detectives. “Thank you, Detective Frost. I think I’ll take you up on that offer.”

“They are already over there,” he explained. “I was going to head over now, but I can wait if you aren’t ready.”

“I need about five minutes.”

“I’ll wait for you. I’ll meet you upstairs in the lobby.”

Maura signed off on the report she had been reading when Frost came down, and then she went to the restroom. It was silly, she knew, to be so concerned about how she looked for a drink with her colleagues. Especially when she knew perfectly well that the person she wanted to look good for was Jane. Jane, who had seen her dressed up for work and dressed casually at home, and who didn’t seem to care either way. Or maybe she liked both. 

Maura wasn’t sure what Jane liked, but she was sure that sometimes she saw Jane looking at her with what could only be described as attraction. So she was going to take an extra moment to make sure that she looked good. In the restroom, she checked her makeup, reapplied lipstick, and made sure her pencil skirt and sweater looked good.

She went to meet Frost and they walked half a block to the bar. Jane and Detective Korsak were already sitting at a booth. Frost asked her what she wanted to drink and went to the bar to order for them.

“Hey,” Jane said with a smile when Maura sat down next to her. “It’s a nice surprise to see you here.”

“Detective Frost invited me. I hope you don’t mind me intruding.”

“Of course not, Dr. Isles,” Korsak responded.

After Frost joined them with a beer for himself a glass of Chardonnay for Maura, Jane sat back and listened while Frost and Korsak asked Maura questions about herself and she did the same to them. This is what she had been hoping to accomplish for a while. After learning how the detectives in San Francisco called her Queen of the Dead, Jane wanted to make sure that the Detectives she worked with got to know Maura outside of the morgue.

Jane’s attention had wandered off until she heard Korsak asking about Maura’s living situation.

“The apartment we’re in has worked out well so far. I’m going to start looking for a place to buy soon, though.”

“You’re moving?” Jane asked in surprise.

“At some point. I want something bigger and maybe with more of a yard. Maybe a neighborhood with more children for Will to play with.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

The conversation moved on to a discussion of what neighborhoods Maura might want to live in. After about an hour at the bar Maura said, “I should go home so I can make dinner for Will. But thank you Detective Frost, for inviting me. It was really nice to talk with all of you.”

“Anytime, Doc,” Korsak responded and Frost agreed.

“I’ll walk you back to your car,” Jane said, following Maura out of the booth. She glared in response to Korsak’s raised eyebrow and Frost’s grin after Maura walked away, effectively stopping them from making any comments Maura could overhear. “Settle down, guys. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Have a good night, Jane,” Frost called after her.

Jane caught up to Maura outside the bar and said in a joking tone, “So you always decline my invitation to have drinks with us, but not when Frost invites you? Should I feel jealous?”

Maura stopped walking to turn to Jane and respond seriously, “It just happened that he invited me to join all three of you on a day when I was finished early. It had nothing to do with Detective Frost inviting me.”

“I was joking,” Jane said.

“I know that your tone was a joking one, but I still don’t want you to think I was declining your invitation specifically. I probably wouldn’t have come out tonight if you hadn’t invited me in the past.”

“Oh. Well, I’m glad you came. They’re good guys, you know?”

“Yes, they are,” Maura agreed. They resumed walking back to headquarters. “Can I ask you something?” she asked.

“Yeah, of course.”

Since their late night talk a couple of weeks ago, neither of them had brought up any of the revelations they had both made. But after this evening, Maura was curious about something. “Even though you wanted a new partner, you and Korsak seem to be on good terms now. Is that true?”

“Is wasn’t so much that I wanted a new partner, but I thought it was for the best for both of us. He was upset at first, but I think he understands my reasons. So, yeah, we’re still close. With what we went through together, I think we’ll always be close.”

“That’s nice,” Maura said.

“Yeah, sure,” Jane answered.

Outside of the police headquarters building, Maura stopped and said, “Jane, I’m sorry if you were surprised about my plan to move. I should have said something to you sooner, but we probably won’t move until the spring or the summer.”

“It’s not really any of my business.”

“Of course it is your business. I mean, we’re friends and I don’t have a lot of friends, so I don’t know, but this is the sort of thing we should talk about, right? And you’re important to Will too. He adores you. Moving is not going to change that.”

Jane dropped and shook her head to hide her embarrassment at Maura’s words. “That’s all very nice of you to say, but it still is only my business to the extent you want to tell me.”

“Well, I should really get home. Are you going home now?”

“Actually I’ve got some errands to do first.”

“Will you come have dinner with us again soon?” Maura asked and immediately felt annoyed at how awkward the question seemed. 

“Of course. And maybe football again this weekend or next.”

“Yes. Definitely. Have a good night, Jane.”

“You too, Maura.”


	8. Chapter 8

Jane and Maura sat together in the police headquarters cafe. During the past couple of weeks they had settled into an even more regular routine. They usually had lunch two or three times a week, depending on their cases. Sunday was football and dinner, followed by wine, beer, and conversation after Billy went to bed. Most of the time the conversation stayed focus on work. Maura updated Jane on how Frost was progressing in acclimating to dead bodies, and Jane told stories about the antics of the other detectives. Most of the time they still tended to avoid overly personal topics and the awkwardness that seemed to come with them.

Angela came over to their table with a sandwich for Jane and a salad for Maura and lingered, something she had been doing a lot during the past week. Jane knew she had been trying desperately to play matchmaker between her and Maura pretty much since the day Maura started working here, and thus far Jane had refused to indulge her in any conversations on the topic. 

“So, Maura, do do you have any plans for Thanksgiving?” Angela asked. 

“No, I haven’t made any plans yet,” Maura answered.

To Jane’s surprise, Angela didn’t immediately invite Maura to their Thanksgiving dinner. Instead, she just gave Jane a stern look, and said, “Excuse me girls, I have to get back to the kitchen.”

Jane said to Maura, “You’re not seeing your parents for Thanksgiving?”

“No, they're traveling in Europe until Christmas. But they’re British. They don’t celebrate Thanksgiving.”

“Your parents are British?” Jane said in surprise.

“Yes.”

“But, you’re not British. You said you were born in Boston.”

“I was born in Boston,” Maura explained. “Both of my parents were teaching at Harvard when they adopted me. I mostly lived in the U.S. and went to American schools until I was ten.”

“So, you don’t have Thanksgiving plans?” Jane confirmed.

“No, we don’t.”

“You should come to Thanksgiving at my mother’s house. It’s just going to be her, Frankie, and me, and it will be very relaxed. My mother will make enough food for ten people anyway.”

Maura hesitated, unsure if it was okay to intrude on someone else’s family holiday like this. “Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to intrude on your family event.”

“I’m positive. It would be really great to have you and Billy there.”

“Okay, if you’re sure you want us there, we’ll come,” Maura agreed.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hi, we’re here,” Jane called out as she entered her mother’s house on Thanksgiving afternoon with Maura and Billy right behind her. After they all hung up jackets, hats, and gloves in the front closet, she stepped in the living room and stopped so suddenly Maura almost crashed into her. “Tommy?” Jane said in disbelief.

“Hey, Jane,” he said and stood to move closer to greet them.

“What…what are you doing here? When did you get here?”

“Um, last week. My release date got moved up but Ma wanted it to be a surprise for when we were all together.”

“Jesus, that’s quite a surprise.” Jane stepped forward and embraced him. “I’m really glad you’re here, Tommy.”

“Me too,” he said, returning her hug. “So, are you going to introduce me to your girlfriend?”

“Oh, um…” Jane looked behind her where Maura and Billy were still standing. “This is my friend,” she said, emphasizing the word friend, “Maura, and her son, Billy.”

Maura stepped forward and extended her hand, “It’s very nice to meet you, Tommy.”

“You too, Maura. And nice to meet you, Billy.”

Jane moved to give Frankie a hug and said, “Hey Frankie. Have you met Maura yet?”

“Yes,” Maura answered for him as she stepped forward to shake his hand anyway. “We actually met last week. He was the officer securing the crime scene at the South End murder. It’s nice to see you again, Frankie.”

“You too,” he responded.

“Okay,” Jane said, “we should say hi to Ma.”

“Billy, we’re watching the Green Bay-Detroit game if you want to join us,” Frankie said. 

Maura put her arm around Billy’s shoulders and steered him to follow Jane as she said, “Come say hi to Mrs. Rizzoli and then you can watch football.”

As they walked through the dining room to the kitchen at the back of the house, Jane whispered to Maura, “I’m sorry, I didn’t have any idea he was going to be here.”

“It’s fine.”

“Are you sure?”

Maura stopped so she could say, “He’s your brother and you already told me what happened. It’s completely fine.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Angela came into the dining room and said, “Hi girls, is everything okay?”

“Yes, everything is great,” Jane answered and then gave Angela a hug and kiss on the cheek. “Hi, Ma.

Angela hugged Jane and then Maura, saying as she did, “I’m so happy you could spend Thanksgiving with us.”

“Thank you for having us,” Maura responded.

“And it is so nice to see you again, Billy,” Angela said, turning her attention to him.

“You too, Mrs. Rizzoli. Mom, can I go watch football now?”

“Yes, sweetie, go ahead.”

“Ma,” Jane said, holding up the bag that was still in her hand. “I got the cannoli you wanted and Maura made a pumpkin pie.”

“You can put those on the side table. Maura, thank you so much for the pie. Go sit with the boys in the living room and relax. The food is almost ready, but Jane help me with a few things in the kitchen.”

“I can help,” Maura offered.

“Go relax,” Jane said, and ushered her towards the living room before following her mother to the kitchen.

“Both the potatoes and sweet potatoes are done, they just need to be drained and mashed,” Angela said. 

“Okay, I can do that.”

“The stuffing, gravy, and rolls are done,” Angela continued. “The corn is heating up. The casserole and cranberry sauce are on the table already. I just need to check on the turkey and then we’ll be ready to eat.” Angela took the turkey out of the over to make sure it was finished as Jane worked on potatoes. After a moment Angela said, “So…”

“So…what?” Jane said, playing dumb, but then said, “Come on, get it out of your system now.”

“I’m just going to come right out and say it. Why aren’t you and Maura dating yet?”

Jane knew there was no use denying her interest in Maura. Even if she wasn’t actually interested, her mother would try to talk her into it anyway. “It’s not that simple, Ma.”

“Why, because she has a kid?”

“That is one thing to consider. I can’t just get involved in his life and then disappear all of the sudden if things didn’t go well with Maura. But that’s not the only reason. For one thing, I don’t know if she’s even interested in anything other than friendship.”

Angela rolled her eyes. “It’s obvious she likes you.”

“Well, I don’t know if I’m ready yet.”

Angela softened. “I understand, honey, I really do. I know you’ve been through a lot. But maybe you won’t know if you’re ready until you try.”

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maura went into into the living room and sat down in the unoccupied chair. Will and Frankie sat on the couch and Tommy was in the other chair. They were all focused on the football game and she watched quietly as well. 

When a commercial came on, Tommy muted the television and said, “So, Maura, they were telling me that you work with Jane.”

“Sometimes. I’m the Chief Medical Examiner for the state. I work with all of the detectives in Boston and in a number of other cities too. But we also happen to live in the same apartment building so we do see each other frequently.”

“Billy was telling us about the baseball game you all went to. It sounded like a lot of fun. I haven’t been to a game since Pop took us as kids. Are you a big sports fan too?” Tommy asked.

“I really didn’t follow any sports until Will started getting interested in football a few years ago. I think Jane is mostly responsible for his interest in the Red Sox. Did you tell them about your Halloween costume?” she said to Will.

“I was a Red Sox player,” Billy said enthusiastically. “Jane said I should wear a fake beard with the uniform.”

Frankie and Tommy both laughed. 

“The costume was a big hit,” Maura said. 

“I bet,” Frankie said. “Jane was always the most serious about the Red Sox in the family.”

“We had a lot of fun watching the Red Sox World Series games, didn’t we Will?” Maura said.

“Yeah. Do you think we can go to a game next year too?” he asked.

“I’m sure we’ll be able to arrange that.”

“Can Jane come too?” he added.

“Can I come to what?” Jane said as she came into the room.

“A baseball game next season,” Maura answered.

“Ah, of course. We can probably make that happen. But right now, the turkey is ready, so let’s eat.”

Everyone filed into the dining room and Angela directed everyone to their seats. Maura and Billy sat on one side of the table with Jane and Tommy across from them. Angela sat at the head of the table with Frankie at the other end. All of the food was in dishes on the table. There were bottles of sparkling cider instead of any alcohol, which Angela had banned from the house a few years ago.

“Maura, would you like to say grace?” Angela said.

“Oh, um, I’m sorry, I’ve never said grace. I’m not sure if I should be the one to do it.“

“That’s okay. I’d like to do it,” Frankie said. He held out his hands to Tommy and Billy on either side of him and everyone linked hands around the table. “Bless us, O Lord, and these your gifts, which we're about to receive from your bounty. Thank you Ma, for this wonderful meal and for everything you do for us every day of the year. And thank you to new friends for joining us for this meal. Amen.”

“Amen,” Jane, Angela, and Tommy repeated. Jane looked up to find Maura looking at her and smiling and she smiled back. 

“Frankie, will you carve the turkey?” Angela said. “Jane, you can start passing the other food around.” 

Once everyone was served and had started eating, Angela started asking questions. “So, Maura, Jane was telling me that your parents travel a lot. Are they going to be visiting for Christmas?”

“I think we’re going to visit them in Manhattan around Christmas time,” Maura answered.

“Really?” Jane said. “Don’t they want to see everything you’ve got going on here?”

“Maybe once we’ve moved into a more permanent home,” Maura responded with a shrug.

“I don’t know how they can stand spending any time away from their grandson,” Angela said. “If any of my children would get around to give me grand babies, I’d spend as much time as I could with them.”

“See,” Jane said to Maura. “Didn’t I tell you?”

“You complain now, Jane. But you have no idea how much you will all appreciate having a babysitter on call all the time,” Angela said. “Isn’t that right, Maura?”

“Well, yes, it probably would have been nice to have as much help as possible, especially during the first year or so when everything about having a baby is completely new. No matter how prepared you think you are, there are so many unexpected things or things particular to your child.”

Angela made her “I told you so” face at Jane and then turned to Billy. “So, Billy, tell me what’s going on with you? How’s school? How are your teachers?”

Billy happily talked all about school and his after school activities and then the discussion moved on to where everyone thought Maura should look for a house and then Frankie’s prospects for making detective. 

When everyone was done eating, Angela enlisted Frankie’s help to clean up. Maura insisted that she and Billy would help too. Angela agreed but pushed Jane and Tommy towards the living room, saying, “You two go catch up.”

“Ma won’t let me help with anything,” Tommy told Jane as they sat down in the living room.

“She’s just happy you’re home. Give her a little time and she’ll be back to bossing you around. I’m really glad you’re home too, Tommy,” Jane said as the sat down on the couch. 

“Not as glad as I am. Trust me.”

“Have you seen Pop?”

“Not yet. I haven’t talked to him either. Ma said she didn’t know how to reach him, but Frankie gave me his number.”

“What’s your plan now?” she asked. 

“Finding a job is the first thing I need to do. I spent all of the past week putting in applications. Once I save up some money, I can find my own place to live. ”

“If I can help with anything, let me know.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m going to be okay,” he said confidently. “I’m clean and sober and I’m going to get my shit together.”

Jane nodded.

“So, Maura isn’t your girlfriend, huh?” Tommy said teasingly.

“No,” Jane responded.

“Does that mean she’s available?” he asked, grinning.

“Not to you,” Jane responded with a smile. 

Tommy laughed. “I’m kidding, Jane. Frankie already warned me that she’s totally off limits. Plus, it’s obvious she’s in to you. Her kid really likes you too.”

Before Jane could ask him what he meant that Frankie warned him, Maura and Billy joined them in the living room.

“Jane, how about a game of chess?” Tommy suggested.

“Uh, maybe next time, okay?”

“I’ll play,” Billy said.

“Um…” Tommy said, looking at Jane for help. 

Jane looked to Maura, eyebrows raised, and Maura said, “That’s fine with me. He knows how to play. He’s pretty good too.”

“Alright, I guess we’ll see how good you are, Billy.” Tommy went to get the chess board and set it up on the coffee table. He and Billy sat down on the floor across from each and began playing.

Maura and Jane watched for a few minutes before Maura said, “Is this the house you grew up in, Jane?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“May I see your room?” she asked.

“I guess there’s no reason not to,” Jane reluctantly agreed. She led Maura upstairs to her former bedroom. Jane had lived in this room until she was twenty when she completed her associate degree in criminal justice. Then she had moved to her first apartment in Boston so she could apply to the Boston Police Department.

The first thing Maura said, almost gleefully, was, “You had a canopy bed?” 

Jane frowned at the bed. The pink canopy was no longer attached, but the four posts were still intact. “You should have seen the actual canopy. It was pink. This was my mother’s choice, not mine. It was the most girly thing she ever successfully inflicted on me,” she joked.

“I like it. It gives the room a very sophisticated feel.”

Jane sat down on the edge of the bed and watched Maura wander around the room, looking at mementos from Jane’s childhood. There were photos of Jane scattered around the room, many of which were framed and added to the room after Jane moved out, and Maura picked up each and one and studied it. 

She picked up one of Jane in a dress and asked, “What is this one from?”

“Confirmation.”

“You were raised Catholic, I presume.”

“Yup.”

“Do you still go to church?”

“No, not to regular mass anyway, and I haven’t been to confession in a very long time. Sometimes I’ll go to midnight mass at Christmas though. What about you?”

“I was raised with no religious instruction, although I have studied a number of religious belief systems.”

“You couldn’t commit to any?” Jane joked.

Maura laughed and said, “Nope. I guess not.”

Maura kept looking through pictures and other items and asking questions about some of them. When she was finished she sat down next to Jane on the bed, shoulder to shoulder, and asked, “Was today a typical Thanksgiving for your family?”

“No. When I was a kid we would usually host Thanksgiving with all of the extended family. Ma would cook for days and complain about it but she loved it. Grandparents and lots of aunts and uncles and cousins would be here.”

“That sounds fun.”

“It was but that was pretty normal too. Every holiday—you know, Easter, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Christmas—we would be at someone’s house with the whole extended family. And because we spent so much time together there were rivalries and jealousies, and petty arguments and all out fights. So that’s what a typical holiday was like. Last year we didn’t actually do a real Thanksgiving. Pop had just left and I was still recovering and I wasn’t really any fun to be around anyway.”

Maura cautiously moved the hand that was sitting next to Jane’s on the bed on top of Jane’s hand. 

“Today has been really nice,” Jane said.

“So did you ever just sneak off to your room like this during Thanksgiving or a big family event when you were younger?” Maura asked coyly.

Jane opened her mouth to respond but stopped and looked down at her lap to try to hide her grin.

“What?” Maura prodded.

“No I didn’t.” Jane turned more fully toward Maura. “But there was never a beautiful woman to sneak off with.”

Maura smiled and kept her eyes locked on Jane’s as Jane leaned forward, her gaze shifting back and forth between Maura’s lips and eyes. 

Just as Jane was about to close the remaining distance between them, they were both startled by Frankie’s voice yelling from the hallway, “Jane, Ma says it’s time for dessert.”

Jane jumped off of the bed upon hearing Frankie’s voice and now she turned away shyly from Maura. 

“Okay, Frankie,” she called back shakily. Maura stood too and smoothed out her dress. “I guess we should go downstairs,” Jane said. 

Maura held back a sigh and silently cursed the interruption and the clear shift in the mood of the room. “Yes, I should probably check on Will,” she said and left the room.

Jane rubbed her hands over her face, stifling a groan of frustration, before following Maura downstairs.


	9. Chapter 9

Maura sat at her desk at work unable to concentrate. All she could think about was Jane. Jane almost kissing her. Jane not kissing her. Jane not making any move to kiss her again. 

It was incredibly frustrating to not know why Jane hadn’t tried again when it seemed like nothing had changed between them. Maura now deeply regretted leaving the room when they were interrupted on Thanksgiving. Jane had seemed embarrassed by the interruption and Maura didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, but now she thought she should have stayed. She should have gone to Jane and kissed her. Now sitting at her desk, Maura thought through all of the ways she should have kissed Jane that afternoon.

Instead, they ate dessert with Jane’s family and then went back to the apartment building where Jane said a quick goodbye to both her and Will and, saying she was worn out, disappeared upstairs to her apartment.

They did spend most of Sunday together. It had been a good day, light and fun, watching both the Patriots and then the 49ers games. Jane and Will had engaged in a spirited debate over which teams were going to go to the Super Bowl and who would win. They agreed on the high probability of the Patriots-49ers Super Bowl, but obviously disagreed on who would win the game.

During the Patriots game, Jane had taught them both how to a play a card game called spit after Will described a game other kids were playing at school. Maura was sure that actual spitting would somehow be involved when Jane first started describing the game to them, and she was thankful that it didn’t. It did, however, involve a lot of yelling and laughter while they all sat on the floor and played. 

But after the games and after dinner, when Maura put Will to bed, Jane didn’t stay like she usually did on Sunday evenings. So, When Jane texted to ask if she was free for lunch, Maura frowned at the phone. Jane wasn’t avoiding her, but it did seem as though she was avoiding spending time with her alone. Maura sent back a reply saying she couldn’t get away from work for lunch today, which was true because she hadn’t managed to complete any of her work yet that morning.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jane frowned at her phone when she received Maura’s text saying she was too busy for lunch. 

“Trouble in paradise?” Frost joked from his desk across from Jane.

“Huh?” Jane said, tearing her attention away from her phone.

“Come on, everyday when we don’t have a case, you text Dr. Isles and she texts back and then you go off to lunch. But you’ve got that sad look on your face now so she must have said no today.”

Jane frowned at Frost, but she was annoyed at herself for being so obvious. “She said she’s busy. So what do you say we get out of here and go get lunch someplace?”

“Even though I am obviously your second choice, I could use a change of scenery. Let’s go.”

Jane and Frost walked down the street to the Chinese place that was little more than a hole in the wall with buffet style counter service and a few tables with plastic chairs.

“So what’s the deal? Did you hook up with Maura yet?” Frost asked when they sat down with their food.

“I’m not trying to hook up with her.”

“Then what are you trying to do?”

“Jesus, you sound like my mother. What if Maura and I are just going to be friends?”

Frost shrugged. “You can be, if that’s what you really want. But you two are obviously into each other and not just in a friendly way.”

Jane regarded Frost for a moment. He seemed sincere, rather than just trying to give her a hard time. “If it’s true that she’s interested in me, how come she hasn’t made a move?”

“A woman like Maura doesn’t make the move.”

Jane laughed and said, “What is that supposed mean?”

Frost raised his eyebrows, like Jane was being intentionally dense. “She’s beautiful, classy, sophisticated, not to mention sexy. Three quarters of the men at headquarters feel their pants get tighter when she walks by.” 

“Come on, she’s a mom for christ’s sake,” Jane protested as though she had never had exactly those same thoughts about Maura on more than one location.

“Well, she’s a mom who knows exactly what she’s doing strutting around crime scenes and police headquarters wearing those dresses and tight skirts and high heels. But my point is that she probably gets hit on or asked out by people every single day and since it seems like she’s spending all her time with you, I’m guessing she’s not going out with any of those people.”

“I don’t want to be just another asshole hitting on her all the time,” Jane said seriously. “And, if you keep talking about her like that I’m going to have to punch you.”

Frost smiled. “You’re not an asshole because she’s actually interested in you.” 

Jane shook her head. “Jesus, why am I even listening to you? What’s your love life situation?”

“There’s been nothing serious recently,” Frost answered. “But I was engaged.”

“Really? When? What happened?”

“Two years ago. She was working for the FBI in Boston when we started dating. We dated for about four years and then we got engaged. A little while after we got engaged she took a new assignment, something involving cyber terrorism, that required her to move to Washington, DC. I was ready to move to DC with her, but she said I shouldn’t move because she might get another assignment somewhere else soon anyway and I shouldn’t have to keep following her. So we tried the long distance thing for a little while, but she was never available and in the end it just fell apart, I guess.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. It’s in the past.”

“So I guess you have relevant expertise in this area. I should probably listen to you,” Jane said with a smile.

Frost laughed. “What about you? Any failed long term relationships you want to share?”

“Um…”

“Come on, I told you my story of embarrassing heartbreak.”

Jane sighed. “I don’t have a story like that because I think my longest relationship probably lasted about six months. I don’t think that counts as long term.”

“Ah, well that explains some things. Do you want my advice?”

“Not really.”

Frost ignored her and kept going, “If you wait long enough, maybe Maura will get tired of waiting for you and make her own move. When she does, you better not fuck it up.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning when she arrived at work, the first thing Jane did was go down to Maura’s office to say hi, knowing that Maura was always at work early after dropping Billy off at school. Jane was worried Maura would not have time for lunch again today, or if she and Frost caught a case it could be days before they were able to have lunch again. The idea of not seeing Maura for days, other than over a dead body, was unsettling. Of course, that thought was unsettling too.

Jane found Maura with a large stack of paperwork in her office. She knocked on Maura’s open door and leaned in the doorway. “Hey, I just wanted to say hi.”

Maura looked up and smiled and said, “Hi.”

“Hi,” Jane said again. “I’ll let you get back to work. It looks like you’ve got your hands full.”

“I wasn’t very productive yesterday,” Maura admitted.

“Okay, I won’t disrupt you. See you later.”

“Jane, wait,” Maura said and Jane turned back around in the doorway. “Will’s birthday is next week. I wasn’t sure if I was going to do this again this year, but I decided to get tickets to this Sunday’s Patriots game. Would you come with us?”

Jane stepped into the office. “Wow, yeah, of course. I would love to go.”

“I actually have four tickets. You should invite someone to come too,” Maura said.

“You want me to invite someone else to come with us to the game?” Jane asked skeptically.

“No one was selling just three tickets, so I ended up getting four, and I don’t really know anyone else to invite.”

“What about Billy? Doesn’t he have a friend he wants to invite? Or friends. I don’t have to go.”

“He told me that he wanted you to come, and he didn’t want to play favorites with his friends and elevate one over the others by picking him to go to the game.”

“Seriously?”

Maura smiled and nodded. ”Well, that’s not how he put it, but yes, I think that was his concern.”

Jane chuckled and shook her head. “When is his actual birthday?”

“Monday. On Saturday, I’m going to take him and few friends to the movies or something like that, whatever he decides to do. He hasn’t made up his mind yet. I decided last night that I wanted to take him to a game too.”

“What made you decide that?”

“I was thinking about how good he did with the move, and how in general he doesn’t ask for much. I figured why not do something I know he’ll really enjoy.”

Jane nodded. “Sunday, then.”

“Yes, Sunday.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunday morning, Jane drove Maura, Billy, and Frankie to Gillette Stadium. When Maura refused to let Jane reimburse her for the tickets for her and Frankie, Jane insisted on driving, knowing she could at least pay the $40 for parking. The normally thirty minute drive to Foxboro took closer to an hour and half on game days. They left early enough to have time to walk around and eat lunch at one of the Patriot Place restaurants before the game started. 

The first half of the game was a frustrating mess for the Patriots. They couldn’t get anything going on offense and one drive ended with an interception. Fortunately the Cleveland Browns only managed six points despite having the ball for two thirds of the first half. 

Jane was sitting next to Maura, Billy was on her other side and Frankie was sitting next to him. After yet another play that ended in Jane groaning and holding her head in her hands, Maura asked Jane, “When was the last time you came to a Patriots game?”

“I’ve never been to a Patriots game,” Jane answered.

“Really?” Maura said, obviously surprised. 

“Yeah, Pop wasn’t really into football. Baseball was his game. Plus there is no way he would have dealt with driving all the way down here, spending the whole day with us kids, and then the traffic to get home. And now, well, you saw how hard it was to get tickets, right? I haven’t made the effort before. So, yeah, you took me to my first game.” 

Maura smiled but before she could respond, Billy pulled on her arm and said, “Mom, I’m hungry.”

“I’ll bring him to get something to eat,” Jane said. “Come on, Billy, let’s go find something good.”

Frankie moved over a seat so he was next to Maura after Jane and Billy left. “I’m glad you and Jane are friends. You’re good for her,” he said to Maura.

She was surprised by his statement and asked, “What do you mean?”

Frankie shrugged. “It’s hard to explain but she’s different. Not in a major way, but she is different since…you know. She used to be full steam ahead all the time, and brash and sarcastic, and stubborn, of course. She made an impression on people, you know what I mean? She still can be those things sometimes, but it’s different. She’s more reserved and quieter. It seems like she’s more inside her own head a lot. It’s just good to see her having fun with you.” 

Maura tried to understand what Frankie was trying to tell her. “I obviously didn’t know Jane before, but I don’t think of her as quiet. Maybe a little reserved sometimes.”

“Like I said, it’s hard to explain. Have you ever seen her interrogate a suspect?” he asked.

“No.”

“Okay, but you have seen her at crime scenes, so you know how she is when she’s on a case. Not just the determination and focus she has when she’s doing her job, but the confidence and the swagger she’s got when she’s on a case.”

“I think I know what you mean,” Maura said cautiously.

“She used to be like that all the time, confident and outgoing. That seems to be back when she’s with you and I’m glad to see it. So whatever you’re doing, thanks,” Frankie said genuinely.

Maura smiled, unsure how to respond. 

Jane and Billy returned with a big bag of popcorn, three coffees, and one hot chocolate. The temperature was hovering around freezing and although they all were wearing hats, gloves, and layers of clothing, the cold was seeping in.

The second half didn’t get off to any better start for the Patriots than the first half. Cleveland scored to go up 12-0 and then the Patriots star tight end Gronkowski was injured when a Browns player collided with his knee. The Patriots finally scored with a minute and half left in the quarter, but every time they scored, Cleveland followed with their own score. 

But with two and half minutes left, the game completely changed. The Patriots were down by 12. Seven passes and one touchdown run later, they were down by 5 with a minute left. Everyone in the stadium was on their feet in excitement and anticipation. “Billy, do you know what’s coming next?” Jane asked. 

“No,” he answered.

“Do you know what an onside kick is?”

“No.”

“On a kickoff, once the ball goes ten yards, a player from either team can recover the ball,” Jane explained. “So the Patriots are going to try to kick the ball just over ten yards and then try to grab the ball.”

“So either team can end up with possession of the ball on a kickoff?” Maura asked.

“Yes.”

“Why don’t teams try this all the time?” she asked.

“If you fail, then the other teams gets the ball around midfield and will have a lot better chance of scoring. So usually teams only do it late in a game like this where they will lose if they don’t get the ball,” Jane said. “Here we go,” she said, nodding to the field where the teams were setting up.

Patriots kicker Gostkowski kicked the ball softly straight in front of him, the ball bounced around briefly, and a Patriots player recovered the ball. Jane and Frankie were yelling and high-fiving everyone, while Maura and Billy were watching the stadium big screen so they could watch the replay and try to figure out what had just happened. 

Before they had finished discussing the awesomeness of the onside kick, the Patriots had scored the go-ahead touchdown. Jane grabbed Maura and hugged her in excitement before she could think about what she was doing. “Sorry,” she said, as she pulled back. 

Maura was grinning. “Don’t apologize.”

Jane smiled in return and then moved on to high-fiving Billy and Frankie. 

The excitement of the game carried over into the ride home, but by the time they were entering Boston, everyone was worn out. Jane dropped Maura and Billy off, then drove Frankie home before returning to her own apartment. 

Maura spent the ride home thinking about her conversation with Frankie. She hoped that when Jane returned home she would come over and they would resume their normal Sunday evening routine, but she didn’t. After putting Will to bed, Maura made a decision and went upstairs and knocked on Jane’s door.

“Are you okay?” Jane asked upon opening the door and stepping aside so Maura could come in.

Maura closed the door behind her and leaned back against it. “Yes. Will is asleep so I can only stay a minute but I wanted to tell you something.”

“Okay.”

“At Thanksgiving, you almost kissed me,” Maura said quickly, and held up her hand to stop Jane from responding immediately. “Since then I’ve been wondering why you haven’t tried again. Sometimes I convince myself that you weren’t actually going to kiss me at all that day, or that you were but now you’ve changed your mind. Today I realized that maybe you haven’t kissed me because you weren’t sure I wanted you to. So I’m here to tell you that I want to kiss you and I very much want you to kiss me.”

Jane stepped forward until she was right in front of Maura. She put a hand on Maura’s waist and smiled self-consciously. “Are you sure?”

Maura nodded. 

Jane moved closer and leaned down slightly to press her lips against Maura’s and felt Maura’s soft lips move against her. A soft sigh escaped Maura as she parted her lips and her arms slipped around Jane’s neck. Jane put her other hand on Maura’s waist too and her thumbs rubbed against Maura’s abdomen. She pulled Maura away from the door and flush against her own body as her lips parted too.

Jane finally broke the kiss with a shuddering sigh and leaned her forehead against Maura’s, eyes closed. 

Maura put a hand on Jane’s cheek and pressed one more soft kiss to her lips. “I have to go back downstairs.”

Jane was torn between wanting to groan in frustration or laugh. Instead, she said softly, “Okay,” and stepped away from Maura.

“Goodnight, Jane.”

Jane could only nod as Maura turned and left her apartment.


	10. Chapter 10

  
****

Maura sat on the couch in her office, legs crossed, one heel dangling off the foot that swung lightly above the ground. She was supposed to be reading an autopsy report written by the medical examiner who covered Cape Cod, but she was having trouble focusing. Instead of reading, she was smiling to herself and thinking about the kiss she shared with Jane the previous night.

The kiss was better than she had imagined it would be and it made any doubt she had about Jane’s interest in her disappear. She had gone to bed the previous night happily thinking about the kiss. Now she was thinking about kissing Jane again, along with all the other things she wanted to do with her and to her. But she wasn’t in a rush. She wanted to learn everything there was to know about Jane, but she wanted to take her time so she could learn all those things thoroughly.

Her phone buzzed with the usual text from Jane asking about lunch and Maura replied that she would be in the cafe in twenty minutes. 

The first thing Jane said when they sat down with their food was, “Can I stop by tonight? I have something for Billy for his birthday.”

“You didn’t have to do that. He had a weekend full of birthday presents.”

“But today is his actual birthday and it’s just a little thing. I’ll just stop by when I get home and drop it off if that’s okay with you.”

“You don’t have ask if you can come over,” Maura said genuinely. “But I appreciate you being so nice and thoughtful with him all the time.”

After a moment Jane said, “So…” but trailed off in a self-conscious smile.

“So?” Maura asked, grinning back. 

Jane laughed nervously before saying, “I’m trying to figure out how to ask you out on a date without sounding like a teenager.”

Maura tried and failed to suppress a smile. “A date?”

“Unless you don’t want to,” Jane said quickly, but with a smile.

“Jane.”

“Can I take you to dinner sometime this week?” Jane asked.

“Saturday,” Maura answered. “I can get a sitter for Saturday evening. I’ll make dinner for Will and get him ready for bed and then we can go out around 8.”

“That sounds perfect.”

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” Maura asked.

“No,” Jane answered, grinning. “But I have a place in mind. It’s not fancy or anything, so keep that in mind, but I think you’ll like it.”

“I’m sure I will.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That evening, Jane arrived home later than she had planned after being delayed at work and then having to stop to pick up the gift. She knocked on Maura’s door, hoping it wasn’t too late. Maura opened the door a moment later and Jane said, “Sorry, I’m so late. Is Billy still up?”

“Don’t worry. You’re not too late,” Maura said as she let Jane into the apartment. “Will? Jane is here, honey,” she called out.

He came into the room in his pajamas and Jane handed him the present while saying, “Hey, Billy. Happy birthday, buddy.”

Maura said, “Let’s go to the living room and you can open it.”

They all moved to the couch and Billy unwrapped the gift, which was revealed to be a set of three hardcover books. 

“It’s the _All the Wrong Questions_ Lemony Snicket series,” Jane said. “Have you read them?”

“No,” Billy answered.

“My understanding is that they’re about a kid who solves mysteries,” Jane explained.

“Cool,” he said, while already examining the artwork inside the first book.

“What do you say, Will?” Maura said.

“Thanks, Jane.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Time to get into bed, sweetie,” Maura said to him. “I’ll be there in a minute.” When he left the room, bringing the books with him, she said to Jane in amusement, “You got him books about a boy who is a detective?”

Jane shrugged. “Something like that.”

“Clever.”

“Not really. I told you the present wasn’t a big deal, but I did want to give him something. Do you think he liked it?” 

Maura smiled. “He likes everything you give him, even if he doesn’t really know how to show you. I’m sure he’ll be reading those books all week.”

“Okay, but if doesn’t like something I’d prefer that you tell me so I know.” Jane stood and said, “I’ll let you get back to putting him to bed. See you tomorrow, depending on how our days go?”

“Yes,” Maura responded and followed Jane to the door. “And I’m looking forward to Saturday,” she said, reaching out to touch Jane’s arm and circling her fingers around Jane’s wrist.

“Me too,” Jane said, smiling.

Maura looked behind her to check that Will wasn’t in sight and then she leaned in and gave Jane a quick kiss on the lips before, smiling, she said, “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


At eight o’clock on Saturday evening, Jane knocked on Maura’s door. Maura opened the door a moment later wearing a dark green long sleeve sheath dress and matching heels. Her purse was in one hand with her jacket slung over her arm. She stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind her. “If you don’t mind, I’m not going to invite you in. The sitter is here, Will is getting ready for bed, and everything seems under control and I’d rather not disrupt them.”

“That’s fine,” Jane said. “You look amazing but I did say it wasn’t fancy right? I don’t want you to think you’re going out with a slob,” Jane said, gesturing to her own outfit of dark jeans over calf length boots and a red cashmere sweater.

“You look great and this isn’t fancy for me. I mean, this is how I feel most comfortable. I think we should both be comfortable.”

Jane reached out and took Maura’s jacket and held it open so Maura could put it on. “You do look beautiful,” Jane said.

“So do you,” Maura responded.

They drove to Jamaica Plain, chatting about their workday, and found a parking spot on Centre Street near Ten Tables, the restaurant at which Jane made reservations. They arrived little early, and as they waited for their table to be ready, Maura asked, “Have you been here before?”

“No, but I’ve heard good things. They’re all about organic and seasonal food and using local farms and suppliers, which, based on all of the food you’ve already made me, I thought you would like.”

“That’s very thoughtful of you. I realized that I actually haven’t been out to dinner without Will since we moved and this sounds perfect.”

Soon they were seated and after looking at the menu for a moment, Maura asked, “What are you going to get?”

“I was thinking about the Chef’s tasting menu if you’re up for that too.”

Maura’s eyes lit up. “Good. That’s what I want to do too. I wasn’t sure if you would be that adventurous,” she said with a smile.

“Usually I’m not,” Jane responded easily. “But I also don’t know half the words on this menu so I might as well take my chances,” she joked.

The waitress came and they ordered, with Maura choosing the chef’s wine pairings as well and Jane opting instead for the local beer flight.

After ordering, they lapsed into an awkward silence. “I don’t know what to talk about,” Jane admitted. “When we have lunch we usually talk about work and that doesn’t seem right for tonight.”

“I think this is the first time we’ve had a meal alone,” Maura said.

“We have lunch together all the time.”

“You mean when we’re surrounded by other police officers and your mother?”

“Fair point.”

“Tell me something you like to do for fun,” Maura said.

Jane made a face. 

“What?”

“I’m afraid you’re going to think I’m really boring. I work and I see my family. That pretty much covers my social life these days.”

Maura shook her head.“I don’t think that’s boring. Probably because it sounds a lot like my life. But I do want to explore Boston more. I haven’t had much of a chance to see anything, other than sporting venues. I was hoping you could help be my tour guide?”

“What kinds of things did you want to explore?”

“Museums. Historical sites. Things like that. Do you think I sound boring?” Maura asked playfully.

“Not at all.”

“I’d like to go to the Museum of Fine Arts and the Institute of Contemporary Art. Will wants to go to the aquarium and I want to take him to the Science Museum. But maybe you know other places we should go, with or without Will. I would also like to explore the Freedom Trail and historical sites, which I don’t know very much about.”

“We can do that,” Jane agreed. “I bet Billy will do the Freedom Trail at school. I must done it on five or six school field trips as a kid. What do you like to do for stress relief?” she asked.

“Yoga. Meditation. What about you?”

“I like to punch things,” Jane joked.

“What?”

“Boxing with a heavy bag. I find it very relaxing if I can just focus on the rhythm of boxing. Just down the street from here is Jamaica Pond and a little farther south is the Arboretum. Those are both nice places to run if you’re in to that.”

“I used to run marathons before I had a child, but now it’s hard to find time to run more than a mile or two at a time. Do you run?”

“Sometimes. It’s not my favorite thing to do, but if I want to kinda clear my head, I always find running helpful. Mostly I just exercise in the police department gym though,” Jane explained.

Conversation slowed as their first course, a kale, beet, and goat cheese salad, arrived, followed by plates of charcuterie and pickled vegetables. 

Before the entrée was served, Jane asked, “Did you go to college and medical school in San Francisco too?”

“No, I went to college, medical school, and did my pathology residency in New York City,” Maura answered.

“Did you like it there?”

Maura seemed to really think about it before answering, “It was fine. One of the reasons I chose to stay in New York after college was that my parents spend part of the year there so I thought I would see them more than if I went to school in other city.”

“Did you?”

“Probably,” Maura said with a small shrug. 

Their entrees of grilled hake and root vegetables with quinoa arrived and Jane didn’t ask anymore questions about Maura’s parents, although she was continually intrigued by the people who had raised her without seeming to recognize how amazing Maura was.

Surprising Jane, who had grown used to Maura not saying much about herself unless asked a direct question, Maura continued, “Back then I assumed I would always live in New York. It’s the cultural capital of the world, it has everything to offer, you know. But at some point I realized that I didn’t feel any particular connection to it and it wasn’t hard to move away. San Francisco is a wonderful city for so many reasons but it never really felt like home.”

“Maybe Boston will,” Jane said and Maura nodded but without conviction.

Dessert was a decadent chocolate cake served with homemade ice cream. “You should really try this port with the cake,” Maura said. 

“You should try this beer,” Jane countered. 

“Okay,” Maura agreed. Jane pushed her glass across the table and Maura asked, “Which one is this?”

“I don’t remember,” Jane said with a laugh.

Maura took a delicate sip and said, “Mmm, that’s pretty good.” She took another drink and said, “I think port is better suited to dessert though.”

She offered her wine glass to Jane who took it and took a drink of the port and said, “Wow, that is strong. And sweet.”

“Port is generally has a higher sugar and alcohol content than other wine,” Maura explained. “This port is good, although it is a bit much with such a rich dessert.” 

“Anything would be a bit much with this dessert, I think,” Jane said.

“It was delicious though. Everything was delicious. You picked an excellent restaurant. Thank you.”

“I have to admit, I might not have ordered any of this on my own, but it was all very good,” Jane said. 

When the check came, Jane grabbed it and sent the waitress away with her credit card. 

“You should let me pay for half,” Maura said. 

“I asked you out,” Jane said. “If you take me out, you can pay.”’

“Okay,” Maura said, “as long as you promise to go out with me when I ask.”

Jane grinned. “I promise.”

It was past eleven o’clock when they left the restaurant and Maura said she didn’t want to be out too late for the first time with this babysitter so they headed home.

Back at their building, Jane stopped Maura before they went inside and said, “Will you come upstairs with me? At least for a few minutes.”

Maura smiled and, blushing slightly, said, “A few minutes.”

Jane smiled in return and led Maura upstairs to her apartment. Jane walked into the kitchen and asked. “Would you like something to drink?”

Maura took off her jacket and put it with her purse on the kitchen counter. “No, thank you.”

“I’d offer you a tour, but you can see everything but the bedroom already. And if that sounded suggestive at all, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it to be,” Jane said, chuckling self-consciously. 

Maura laughed and leaned back against the counter.

Jane moved in front of her, putting her hands on the counter on either side of Maura, and said quietly, “The first day I met you I thought you were beautiful.”

“Well, when I first saw you I thought you were gorgeous.”

“No, you didn’t,” Jane said shyly. “I was playing outside with Billy. I was probably sweaty and gross.”

“I don’t know if you were sweaty but I absolutely did think that. I thought you were gorgeous and sweet and kind.”

Jane bit her bottom lip and looked down. 

“What is it?” Maura asked.

“I haven’t dated anyone since before, uh…since before the Hoyt case. Not that I had very active social life before then, but I guess I’m nervous.”

Maura rubbed her hands along Jane’s outstretched arms. “I’m nervous too. You make me nervous.”

“Why?” Jane asked softly.

“I’m nervous about how much I like you in such a short amount of time.”

“We have known each other for almost four months,” Jane pointed out.

“And I wanted to kiss you for three of them,” Maura responded.

Jane’s hands moved to Maura’s hips and Maura mirrored her, pulling Jane closer as their lips met. The kiss quickly deepened as Maura slid her tongue inside Jane’s mouth and Jane responded in kind.

After a few moments, Jane’s hands slid down over Maura’s ass and in one smooth motion she lifted Maura onto the counter so their faces were at the same height. Maura’s dress slid up enough to allow Jane to step between her legs and she rested her hands on Maura’s thighs just above her bare knees. 

Maura pulled back for a moment and looked into Jane’s eyes before putting her hands around Jane’s neck and pulling her back into a kiss. Jane moved her hands back to around Maura’s waist and pulled her closer, moaning softly as their bodies fit against each other.

Finally, Maura broke away. She pressed a few kisses across Jane’s jaw and then said, “I should really go.”

Jane dropped her head to Maura’s shoulder and said breathlessly, “Are you sure?”

“No. But I think I should.”

Jane picked her head up. “I know and you’re right, you should, even though I don’t want you to go.” 

Jane helped Maura down from the counter and she smoothed out her dress and picked up her jacket and purse. Jane walked her to the door, and before leaving Maura stopped and brushed her hand against Jane’s face and gave her one more kiss. “Goodnight, Jane. Thank you for a wonderful evening. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Goodnight, Maura.” 


	11. Chapter 11

 

On Sunday morning, Maura woke up when Will climbed into bed with her. During the week she was always up first so she could be showered and dressed before it was time for him to get up. Weekends she stayed in bed later, and starting when he had a bed he could get out of on his own, Will would come into her room when he woke up and crawl into bed with her with a book or a toy.

He didn't join her every weekend morning now and it was another thing Maura knew would come completely to an end any day now. So this morning, when he got into bed she turned onto her side and pulled him tightly into a one-armed hug until he squirmed away saying, "Okay, Mom." She let him go after giving him a kiss on the head.

Maura wondered if he came in this morning because she had gone out the previous night. In San Francisco, he was used to spending an evening with one of a few sitters she used when she missed dinner or bedtime because of work. Except for the one night she went out because of work after Will was already in bed, last night was the first time she had gone out and missed bedtime and that he had a real babysitter at night in Boston.

In San Francisco, he also could have easily not known if she was out because of work or a date. It wasn't that she never went on dates in San Francisco, but their whole routine was different there, and Will had never known any of her dates ahead of time. A single date rarely turned into anything more, so it had been a long time since she had needed to think about how to bring up the subject of dating with him.

Last night, though, was clearly not work related. Earlier in the week when she told Will she was going out to dinner with Jane, he asked if he could come. He seemed mostly satisfied when she told him he couldn't come to dinner but that Jane would come over on Sunday for football and dinner with both of them. She didn't know if he had even considered that her going out with Jane last night could be a date.

In San Francisco, Maura and Will's regular Sunday morning routine was to have breakfast at a cafe near their house and then go to the farmer's market or walk around another part of the city. In Boston, they hadn't settled on a routine yet. Saturdays tended to be filled with school related activities or play dates with friends. Maura hadn't found a breakfast place she liked enough for their regular Sunday breakfast and they had been going to the closest farmer's market on Sundays, but it was closed now for the winter.

"What do you want to do today?" she asked him.

He had brought his iPad with him and was playing a game on it as he answered, "I don't know."

"Should we go out for breakfast? There's a place I thought we could try in Beacon Hill and then maybe we could walk around over there."

"Okay, as long as we're back for the football game."

"We'll be back in time. I'm going to shower and then we'll go so you can play your game for a few more minutes but then you have to get dressed. Okay?"

"Okay."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maura drove them to Beacon Hill and found a parking space on Charles Street, where the restaurant she had read about was located. The restaurant had good reviews for breakfast despite a pretty standard menu. Maura was more interested in taking a look around the neighborhood. It was one of the areas within the city she was considering for them to move to.

At the restaurant they ate and talked, mostly about school and the upcoming week in Will's after school programs. Maura also asked Will if he had any thoughts on what he wanted to do when they visited New York City over the Christmas holiday. They usually visited her parents around Christmas, but Maura knew from experience that they would have a lot of time on their own to do whatever they wanted to do in the city.

After eating they walked through the Beacon Hill neighborhood for a little while. It was a relatively mild day for Boston in December but Maura was still adjusting to the colder Boston winter weather after a decade in San Francisco and she pulled her scarf and jacket around her tighter as they walked the narrow Beacon Hill streets.

"What do you think of this neighborhood?" she asked Will.

"It's cool," he answered. "I like all the brick."

"Most of these homes were built in the early 1800s and the north side of Beacon Hill was also home to the city's African-American population in the 1700s. I was thinking this might be a nice place to move, but would you rather live someplace with a yard?"

"I don't know. Do we have to move?" he asked.

"I think it would be good for us to have a larger home. I want to have someplace for your grandparents to stay when they visit and maybe we could find a neighborhood with more kids to play with. Is there anything in particular you really like about our current apartment?"

"I guess not."

"Well, I don't think we'll move until the end of the school year, so you can think about what you might like to have around in our new home."

They walked through some of the neighborhood's streets and then down to Cambridge Street, where there were shops and restaurants, and then back up Bowdoin Street by the State House and into Boston Common. They walked by the Frog Pond and watched people ice skating for a few minutes before it was time to head home for the football game.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jane arrived part way into the first quarter of the 49ers game, after having taken longer to get ready than she had anticipated. She spent longer than she would ever admit trying to decide what to wear. Normally she would have just thrown on a hoodie over her t-shirt and jeans, but Maura always looked so put together and she wanted to look good for her too, even if it was just to watch football. In the end she decided on a button down shirt instead of the hoodie.

Jane smiled awkwardly as Maura opened the door for her because she didn't think she was supposed to kiss Maura hello like she wanted to. So instead she just said, "Hey."

Maura squeezed Jane's arm as she walked by and said, "Hi."

Jane went into the living room and sat on the floor with Billy to watch the game and they became absorbed in the game and talking about playoff scenarios for the 49ers and the Patriots. At halftime, Billy wanted to play spit again, and all three of them played throughout much of the second half.

After the game was over, Billy asked Jane, "How come we never go to your apartment?"

"I don't know. Probably because I don't get the 49ers games like you do, so it wouldn't make as much sense to go there. Do you want to see my apartment?" she asked.

"Yeah, can we go now?"

"I guess so, if your mom says it's alright."

Jane followed Billy to the kitchen where Maura was working on dinner, and he said, "Mom, can I go see Jane's apartment?"

Maura looked at Jane and said, "Is that okay with you?"

Jane shrugged and said, "Sure."

"Okay. Dinner won't be ready for a little while so go ahead."

Upstairs in Jane's apartment the first thing Billy said was, "It's smaller than our apartment."

"Yeah, but there's only one of me," Jane said in amusement. "What was your home in San Francisco like?"

"Um, it was bigger," he answered as he looked around the living room.

"Was it a house or an apartment or condo?"

"House."

"Did you have a yard?" Jane asked.

"No." Billy wandered into Jane's bedroom and said, "My mom says we have to make our bed everyday."

"Yeah, my mom used to say that too and I never quite understood the point of it, honestly." Jane hastily straightened the covers over the bed in an attempt to make it a little neater and sat down while Billy looked around the room.

He said, "My mom says we're going to move to a new house next summer."

"Yeah."

"Will you still come over and watch football games?" he asked.

"Of course," Jane answered. "I'll be there for football and baseball and all kinds of stuff."

"What's that?" Billy asked, pointing at a paper shooting target taped to one of the bedroom walls.

"Oh, that is a scoring target from the shooting range. That's what is used to test how well you can shoot a gun. The rings inside the body have different point values. You have to get a minimum number of points by hitting the inner rings of the target to carry a gun as a police officer," Jane explained.

"Why do you have it hanging up?" he asked.

"Um, well, about a year and a half ago my hands were injured pretty badly. For a while I couldn't even hold anything with my hands. When they healed I had to retake the firearms qualification test. That is the scoring target from that test and I keep up as a reminder of the injury and how hard I worked to get back to being a police officer."

Billy sat down beside her on the bed and said, "Is that why you have the scars on your hands."

Jane answered by saying, "You're very observant."

"What happened?" he asked.

Jane took a deep breath as she considered what to say to him. "Well, your mom and I catch bad guys, right? So, there was a man hurting people and everyone in the Boston Police Department was trying to catch him before he did anything else. We heard about a place he might have been hiding in and I went to check it out. I was supposed to wait for my partner before going inside the house, but I was foolish and I didn't wait. The man attacked me and injured my hands before my partner got there."

"Did you still catch him?"

"Yes."

"That's good," he said thoughtfully.

"Yes, it is. Um, we should probably go back downstairs and see if dinner is ready now. Your mom is probably waiting for us."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jane hung around after dinner. She opened a beer for herself and poured a glass of wine for Maura and had it waiting in the living room for when Maura finished putting Billy to bed.

Maura joined Jane on the couch, sitting down right next to her. "I'm glad you stayed."

"I usually do. I assumed it would still be okay today. Uh, just so you know, when we were upstairs, Billy asked me about the scars on my hands."

"I'm sorry. I know you don't like talking about it."

"No, it's fine. I just thought you should know. I was more concerned about what would be okay to say to him than about myself."

"Did you answer him?" Maura asked.

"I told him there was a bad guy we were trying to catch and he attacked me and injured my hands. I didn't tell him any more details. What do you tell him about your job?"

"It's changed as he's gotten older. I taught him about forensic science and how it is used to help solve crimes, and I told him I'm a doctor and just like all doctors examine patients to diagnose problems, I examine crime victims to diagnose what happened to them."

"So nothing about autopsies?"

"Not yet." After a moment of silence, Maura reached over to Jane's lap and put her hand on Jane's wrist and said, "I'm sorry if this feels awkward after last night."

"Nothing feels awkward to me because of anything that happened last night," Jane responded. "I had a great time last night."

"Me too," Maura said, squeezing Jane's arm.

Jane moved her hand so she could lace her fingers together with Maura's and asked, "What do you tell Billy about your dating life?"

Maura shook her head and said, "You're assuming I've had anything tell him about."

Jane made a disbelieving face at her and said, "Well, yes, because I can't imagine there would have been any shortage of people lining up to ask you out in San Francisco."

Maura smiled and said, "I went on dates occasionally, but there hasn't been anyone serious enough for Will to have met them in a very long time."

"So he's never really had to deal with someone else taking up your time and attention?"

"I suppose not. But for the record, when I told him I was going out to dinner with you last night, I think he was jealous that I was spending time with you, not the other way around."

"Did you say it was a date?" Jane asked.

"Not explicitly. I don't know if he's thought about the possibility that we would be romantically involved."

Jane frowned. "The awkwardness I feel right now is because I don't know how I'm supposed to act around you in front of him, or even right now," Jane said honestly.

"I'm not sure that I know either," Maura said seriously. "Will knows that people date and he knows about romantic relationships and about sex, at least in an age appropriate manner. He's at an age when kids are getting crushes and playing around with the idea of dating and I know kids at his school are talking about it. But he's also still a little kid in a lot of ways. He still gets up in the middle of the night sometimes and comes into my room because he has a bad dream. I don't want him to walk in on us and be surprised to find you here, even if we were doing something completely innocent. I don't want him to find out about us that way. I want to tell him but I think it's still too early. I think we need more time to see where this is going before he needs to know."

Jane nodded. "I'm totally fine with that. I just want you to tell me if I'm doing anything or saying anything you don't want me to around him."

Maura responded by saying, "I would understand if you decided this was too complicated."

"Are you being serious?" Jane asked in surprise.

"Yes. I would understand if you didn't want to deal with child raising issues when dating."

Jane shook her head. "Maura, I like you. A lot. I like Billy too and I especially like getting to see you with him. I get to see a side of you I wouldn't have seen if I only knew you at work or even if we started dating without really knowing each other at all first. He's not a complication."

"When you say things like that it's hard not to want to drag you to the bedroom right now," Maura said grinning.

"I know what you mean. But it's okay, having to take things a little slow is good for me too. Which is why I'm going to head upstairs now before it gets to the point where you have to kick me out."

Jane got up and Maura followed her to the door saying, "I need to spend some time planning where I'm going to take you for our next date anyway."

Jane leaned against the door and said, "Oh really?"

"Yes, I want to plan the perfect evening."

"I can't wait," Jane said and then asked, "Is a kiss goodnight okay?"

Maura put her palm on Jane's cheek and moved closer to press a kiss to Jane's lips. When Maura stepped back, Jane put her hands against her waist and pulled her closer. When Maura kissed her again, Jane threaded the fingers of one hand through Maura's hair and Maura's hands gripped onto Jane's hips.

Jane spun them around, pressing Maura back against the door, and moving her lips to Maura's neck. Maura pulled Jane forward and slipped her hands under Jane's shirt against the bare skin of her back as she arched her own body against Jane's.

Only when Maura moaned did Jane finally pull back with a shaky laugh and manage to say, "Goodnight."

Maura smoothed out the back of Jane's shirt and opened the door for her and she too managed a soft, "Goodnight."

Jane went up to her apartment where she lay down on the couch and flipped on the television. Her phone buzzed and, grinning, she opened a text message from Maura that read,  _I'll be thinking about that kiss all night._

_Me too_ , Jane wrote back.


	12. Chapter 12

 

Jane loved new cases. She knew it was perverse when new case meant someone had been murdered. But she had come to the conclusion that there was nothing she could do to prevent people from killing other people. Most people feared the unknown, an unnamed stranger who would show up and do them harm. But the reality is that most murder victims are killed by someone they know. They could cut down on random violent crime as much as possible, but there were limits to what they could do about the rest. So she couldn’t prevent most homicides but she could make sure the person responsible was brought to justice.

A new case usually meant working a good forty-eight hours straight or. Even the most open and shut case in which they found the murderer with the murder weapon at the scene of the crime required hours of work. Every piece of evidence had to be properly logged and every statement by the suspect had to be properly obtained. Otherwise anything could happen if the suspect decided to try his luck with a jury.

Since moving into the Homicide unit, the most difficult part of the job for Jane was the stretches between cases where there was nothing to do but paperwork and re-read cold cases for hours at a time. That had changed the past few months with Maura there. At first, having lunch with Maura was just a nice way to spend half an hour or so in the middle of the day. Now it was something she looked forward to more than just about anything else. So when she and Frost got called to a crime scene just after eleven o’clock on Monday morning, Jane couldn’t help feeling disappointed, knowing that the only time she would see Maura during the next few days was over the autopsy table.

Disappointment turned to irritation and then total frustration as the case dragged on through the week and into the weekend with no viable suspects and leads that ended up going nowhere. Jane and Maura had tentatively planned another date on Saturday evening, only to have to cancel it when Jane had to work tracking down a possible witness that turned out to be another dead-end.

In the end, they had to settle for a nightcap in Maura’s apartment and a lingering kiss that left both of them unsatisfied. The next morning, Maura and Will left for New York and Jane spent the next day moping around at work.

While they were at their desks in the bullpen and supposed to be working on paperwork, Frost finally said, “You got it bad, Jane.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Dr. Isles has been gone for two days and you look like someone took away your puppy. Or in your case, took away your gun.”

Korsak tore himself away from whatever he was watching on his computer to say, “You got something going on with the Doc?”

“Some detective you are,” Frost joked.

“Maybe I just like to mind my own business,” Korsak shot back at Frost with a smile. To Jane he said, “Dr. Isles is a real classy lady. Good for you.”

Jane rolled her eyes. “You both need to settle down. We’re just, you know, hanging out a lot.”

Frost dropped the subject, but later when he left the bullpen, Jane sat down in the chair next to Korsak’s desk and said, “Can I talk to you about something?”

“Of course.”

“Maura and I have been spending a lot of time together the past few months. Last week I took her out for dinner and I think we both want to go out again and see where this goes. But we’re taking things pretty slowly, in part because of her son. Going slow is fine but I am nervous about how Billy is going to react to us dating. I know it’s not an easy topic for you to talk about, but I was wondering if you had any thoughts based on your experience with Josh and Melanie?” Jane asked.

“How do you get along with Maura’s son?” Korsak asked.

“Good, I think. I’ve actually spent a lot of time with him, but until recently I was spending all of my time with both of them together. I don’t know how he’s going to feel about his mom and I dating and me taking up more of his mom’s time.”

Korsak shook his head. “It was tough at first with Josh. He was younger than Maura’s son, but I don’t know if that makes it easier or harder, and when he met me, Melanie and I had already been dating for a few months. If I have any advice for you it’s that you’re probably thinking about how your presence is going to affect their relationship, but he’s more likely to think about his relationship with you. Don’t make any commitments to him you aren’t going to keep if things don’t work out with Maura.”

“That seems kinda obvious,” Jane said.

“Maybe but it can be harder than you think. If you and Maura get serious and you have a regular place in his life and then it doesn’t work out between you and Maura, it will be really hard to maintain your relationship with him and he’s not going to understand why.”

Jane nodded thoughtfully. “Could you not mention this to anyone? I don’t think we’re ready to tell anyone yet.”

Korsak nodded.

“Thanks for your help.”

“Anytime, Jane,” Korsak said sincerely.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the Sunday before Christmas, Maura and Will took the train to New York City where they would be staying with Maura’s parents in their Upper East Side condo overlooking Central Park. This was where Maura had spent many of her holiday breaks growing up and even where she lived during medical school and residency, during which she had the whole place to herself most of the time while her parents traveled and lived elsewhere.

As Maura expected, her parents had lots of their own plans the first few days they were there, having just arrived back in New York City themselves. But Maura and Will had spent almost every Christmas here since he was born and they had their own traditions to keep them busy. They always went to the Central Park Zoo, Rockefeller Center and to the Columbus Circle Holiday Market.

Maura simply liked browsing at the Market but it had become a tradition for Will to find presents there for his grandparents. There were plenty of vendors selling things like jewelry and neckties for him to find something reasonable and Maura always let him make his own choices, knowing that her parents were too well mannered to be nothing but gracious in their appreciation of his gifts whatever they were.

This year Maura had her own goal of finding a present for Jane, but after browsing through most of the booths she realized that she didn’t have the slightest clue what Jane would want. After a while of browsing, and getting no helpful input from Will after resorting to asking his opinion, Maura decided to get a few things and figure out what to give Jane later. She spent a long time looking at the various jewelry vendors but ultimately settled on a scarf, a belt, a leather bifold wallet, and, as a last resort, a box of chocolate truffles.

On the day before Christmas, Maura and Billy picked out a Christmas tree and had it delivered. Maura’s parents joined them in the afternoon and they decorated the tree before going out to dinner and then to their Christmas Eve tradition of seeing the Nutcracker. Presents were opened on Christmas morning and the rest of that day was spent relaxing at home.

On Christmas afternoon, Maura snuck off to her room, which had been redecorated by her mother enough times that it bore little resemblance to her childhood room, to call Jane.

“Hey,” Jane answered after one ring.

“Hello. Merry Christmas,” Maura responded, smiling into the phone.

“Merry Christmas to you too.”

“Are you at work?” Maura asked.

“Yup. It’s pretty boring here. Apparently the criminals have decided to take Christmas off this year.”

“Is anyone else there with you?”

“There are some other people around. I told Frost not to come in and that I’d only call him if anything serious happened.”

“Do you have to stay there all day?”

“No, in a little bit I’m going to head to my mother’s house for dinner, where depending on how things go, I may be hoping for a murder,” Jane joked. “How’s New York?” she asked.

“Good. We’re having a good time,” Maura answered vaguely.

“Yeah?” Jane prodded.

“Yes, we are. I mean, I am having a good time and I think Will is too. The first couple of days, Will and I were mostly on our own, but the rest of the week we have plans with my parents.”

“How long are you down there for again?” Jane asked.

“The plan is to come back New Year’s day. That’s what we always did for the Christmas holiday when we were coming from San Francisco, but now that we’re only a few hours away, it seems like a bit much.”

“Well, I, uh, I miss you,” Jane said.

“I miss you too.”

“Is Billy around?”

“He’s with my father. I think Will is showing him some of his school work on his iPad. Do you want me to get him?” Maura asked.

“No, don’t bother him. Just tell him I said Merry Christmas.”

“I will.”

“I’ll let you get back to your family,” Jane said. “Let me know when you get home, okay?”

“Okay. Merry Christmas, Jane. Goodbye.”

“Bye, Maura.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maura and Will spent the next few days enjoying New York City with her parents. Since the time Will had turned five, each time they visited he would spend one day just with his grandfather and one with his grandmother. During this visit, his grandmother took him to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the second time. While they spent their day together, Maura and her father took a trip to the main branch of the New York Public Library. He used to take her there as a little girl and they would sit in the Rose reading room while he did research and sshe was allowed to look at any of the thousands of books on any topic of her choosing off of the shelves that lined the huge reading room walls.

As an adult, particularly once she had her own child, Maura had realized how limited her relationship with her father really was. While as a child she had longed for a mother who more naturally maternal and affectionate, she had never considered the ways in which her father was lacking too. He generally treated her like one of his students and because she had the intellectual capacity to keep up with his lectures on the topics of his choosing, as a child she enjoyed that attention and his praise for her intellect.

As an adult, she realized that his interest in her had only extended as far as she was interested in listening to him talk about his own work. He never sought to find out what she was passionate about. Now he would ask general questions about her work, but she knew his interest was limited and that he thought she was wasting her abilities as a medical examiner. So although Maura did appreciate the thought behind their trip to the library, they could easily have been two strangers sitting next to each others silently in the reading room.

The morning after his day with his grandmother, Will came into Maura’s room and flopped face first onto the bed and said, “Mom, I’m bored.”

“Did you finish reading the books Jane gave you?” she asked him.

“Yeah.”

Maura sympathized with him. There wasn’t that much for children to do at her parent’s home. “Well, your grandfather is taking you to the Museum of Natural History this afternoon and you love that museum. But you know what? I’m a little bored too. I was thinking that perhaps we should go home a little earlier than we planned. Would you rather do New Year’s Eve in Boston?”

“What will we do there?” he asked.

“I’m not sure. We can see what your friends are doing or you can invite someone over if you want.”

“Are you going to invite Jane?”

Maura smiled at him and said, “Maybe. I don’t know if she already has plans but I can ask her. Does that mean you do want to go home for New Year’s?”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “It would be more fun at home.”

“Okay, I’ll change our tickets but you should think about whether there is anything in particular you want to do.”

“Okay,” he agreed.

That afternoon, once Will and her father left, Maura’s mother surprised her with a plan for the two of them to go to a spa for the afternoon for massages and a mud bath.

As they sat in side by side mud baths after separate massages, Maura asked her mother, “How was your day with Will yesterday?”

“I think it went well, although I don’t think he’s very interested in art, which is a shame,” Constance answered.

Maura resisted rolling her eyes, briefly imagining Jane hearing this conversation. “He’s only eleven, there’s plenty of time for him to develop an interest in art or anything else.”

“When you were eleven you could recite the oeuvre of most of the major artists from the Romanticists through the Impressionists,” Constance pointed out.

Maura shook her head. “I memorized all of that information so I would have something to talk to you about. I wanted to impress you. I didn’t learn to appreciate art until I stopped worrying about what you would think if I liked or didn’t like a piece.”

“Oh.”

“Will has other interests now,” Maura continued, “particularly sports, but I’m sure he still enjoyed spending the day with you. He has plenty of teachers, including an art teacher, at one of the best schools in Boston, but he only has one grandmother and he loves you.”

Constance tried to change the subject slightly by saying, “He told me everyone in Boston calls him Billy.”

“That’s because he told everyone to call him Billy.”

“Why did he do that?”

“I honestly don’t know. I thought it was be a passing phase, but it hasn’t passed.”

“He also talked nonstop yesterday about someone named Jane,” Constance said.

Maura paused before saying, “She’s a homicide detective with the Boston Police Department. And a friend. What did he say about her?”

“He said that you work with her and that she watches football with him. And that she took you both to the park to play football and to a baseball game. It sounds like she spends a lot of time with both of you.”

Maura nodded.

“You should have invited her here,” Constance said.

“Oh...well...she has her whole family in Boston and she was working this week too.”

“Maybe next year.”

Maura frowned. “If you come visit us in Boston, I’m sure you’ll be able to meet Jane.”

“I may have the opportunity to do a show in Boston this spring.”

“You don’t need an excuse to come to Boston. I would love for you to come just to visit us. I can show you my office and Will would love to show you around his school.”

“Is Jane good with William?” Constance asked, redirecting the conversation again.

“Yes, she’s very natural with him and she treats him like a person, not just a kid. I think that’s why he likes her so much.”

“I always worried that having a child would make it harder for you to find a partner.”

Maura sighed. She had some variation of this conversation with her mother every year since she was pregnant. “For eleven years, Will has been my partner.”

“You know what I meant,” Constance responded. “Having another person to spend your life with, to share your life with, is different than having a child.”

Maura didn’t back down this time. “I know that having children was never a priority for you, but it was a priority for me, possibly more than having a romantic partner. I could have spent the past ten years dating and hoping to find someone to have children with, and I could be forty years old and alone. Instead I have an amazing son and I have achieved a high level of professional success. That was the right decision for me then, and maybe now is the right time for me in my life to think about the possibility of romantic relationships.”

“I think you’re a wonderful mother, Maura. But I don’t know why you would think you weren’t a priority for your father and I. You always had the best of everything.” When Maura didn’t respond, Constance continued, “You were so independent, you hardly ever asked for anything.”

Maura bit her tongue. There was no sense pointing out now that just because she didn’t ask for anything as a child, that didn’t mean she didn’t need anything. Instead Maura said, “Will and I are going to go home a day early and do New Year’s Eve in Boston.”

“That’s fine, darling. What are you going to do?”

“I think he’ll make plans with friends.”

“Are you going to see Jane?” Constance asked.

“I haven’t asked her yet,” Maura answered. “But I hope so.”

“I think I will have to plan a trip to Boston soon,” her mother responded.

 

 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning there is some possibly M-rated material in this chapter. It isn’t too explicit and (unlike most of my other stories) I’m not planning on writing anything explicit in this story that goes beyond what’s in this chapter. If anyone feels strongly that this chapter warrants a rating change let me know.

On the morning of December 31st, Maura and Will took the train back to Boston. They arranged for one of Will’s friends to come over for a sleepover that evening and for Jane to come over as well.

When Jane arrived that evening, Maura led her into the kitchen, where she was working on dinner.  

“Where’s Billy and his friend?” Jane asked.

“In his room. They already had dinner. Will wanted them to have pizza. Now they’re playing a game on the computer,” Maura explained. 

“I like pizza,” Jane said. “You didn’t have to go to the trouble of making something else.”

“I know, but I wanted to. If you don’t mind sitting in here with me, I just have to finish cooking it.”

“What are you making?”

“Tofu and vegetable stir fry and brown rice. Do you like spicy?”

“Uh, sure.”

“Good. Do you want a beer?”

“Sure, but I can get it. Do you want anything to drink?”

“I already poured myself a glass of wine.”

“Can I help with anything?” Jane asked. 

“No, you can just relax. This will just take a few more minutes.”

Jane sat down at the table.  “So, tell me all about your trip.”

Maura paused her mixing of the stir fry and frowned. 

“What? Was it that bad?” Jane asked.

“No, it was fine. My parents are just frustrating.”

“Everyone’s parents are frustrating,” Jane said sympathetically.

“I suppose I should know better and not expect so much from them, but they’re the only family Will has. I wish they would want to be more involved in his life in a meaningful way.”

“Well, they’re missing out.”

Maura walked over to Jane and bent over to place a kiss on her lips. “Thank you.” She went back to the stove and said, “My mother wants to meet you.”

“What? Why?”

“Apparently Will was talking about you with her and now she wants to meet you,” Maura said, turning and smiling at Jane.

“What did he tell her?” Jane asked.

“I don’t know exactly. It sounded like he mostly talked about football. But she inferred that you were more than just a friend.”

Jane shrugged. “Well, if she ever visits, I’ll probably meet her, right? Unless you’re afraid I’ll embarrass you or something,” Jane teased.

“Of course not,” Maura said seriously. “I’m concerned she’ll embarrass me.”

“You’ve met my mother, right?”

“I understand why you joke about your mother being annoying, but from my perspective she’s endearing. My mother can just be rude.” Maura put plates of food on the table for both of them and sat down. “Enough about my holiday. How was your Christmas?”

“A lot like Thanksgiving, except you weren’t there. I had dinner with my mother, Frankie, and Tommy. It was pretty low key. Fortunately there were no work interruptions.”

“Have you heard anything from your father?” Maura asked.

“No, I haven’t. Apparently the last phone number Frankie had for him, doesn’t work anymore so I couldn’t call him even if I wanted to. Tommy is trying to track him down. I guess Pop was visiting him pretty regularly in prison.”

“What are you going to do if Tommy finds him?”

“I don’t know. Tommy didn’t really experience the break-up the way Frankie and I did. I’m still angry at how he treated Ma. This food is delicious, by the way,” Jane said, changing the topic. 

“Thank you.” They finished eating in relative silence and then Maura said,  “Oh, I got you a Christmas present.”

“You did?”

“Yes,” she said, getting up to retrieve the present from the other room. She handed the wrapped gift to Jane when she returned.

Jane grimaced. “I didn’t get anything for you. I did get something for Billy, but I didn’t bring it tonight because he has a friend here. It’s just a book, Baseball Prospectus. It’s like a preview of the upcoming baseball season with lots of predictions and stuff like that. Actually you might appreciate it, there’s a lot of statistical analysis and nerdy stuff like that. But I didn’t know you and I were at the, uh, gift giving stage.”

“Jane, you don’t have to get me anything. You don’t have to get Will anything either, but I do appreciate your thoughtfulness with him. And this is just a small thing. If you don’t like it you don’t have to keep it. There’s a holiday market near my parents’ home that we always go to and I wanted to get you something,” Maura said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Jane frowned again but tore off the wrapping paper and opened the box inside to reveal a light brown leather wallet.

“It’s handmade from recycled leather,” Maura said.

“It’s awesome,” Jane said as she lifted it out of the box and turned it over in her hands. “And the leather is so soft.” Jane looked up to find Maura looking at her expectantly. “It’s amazing. Thank you, but this isn’t a small gift, Maura. It’s too much.”

“No, it isn’t. If you like it, it definitely isn’t too much.”

“Now I really feel bad that I didn’t get you anything.”

“Don’t. You’ve given me so much in the past few months just through your friendship.”

Jane still wanted to protest but instead she said, “Thank you.” 

“So, will you have this Saturday off?” Maura asked.

“Yes, definitely and I’m not on call.”

“May I take you out?”

Jane smiled at the phrasing of the question and answered, “Yes, you may. Where are we going?”

“I have a few ideas but I haven’t decided, and I’m not going to tell you anyway since you kept the location of our last date secret.”

“Anywhere you choose will be great, I’m sure,” Jane said sincerely. 

Maura stood up and said, “I’m going to go check on the boys and see if they’ll come out and socialize a little.”

“Hey, wait one second,” Jane said, stopping Maura by circling her hand around Maura’s wrist. “So, you know it’s supposed to be good luck or something to kiss someone at midnight on New Year’s. But we’ll be with Billy.”

“That tradition dates back to English and German folklore, or possibly earlier to the Ancient Romans. In the folklore, it had to do with the first person you encountered, not necessarily kissed, in the New Year, but a kiss was thought to set the tone for the rest of the year.”

“So as long as I kiss you sometime after midnight, we’ll be okay?” Jane asked.

“Well, more than twenty time zones have already celebrated New Year’s today.”

“More than twenty?”

“There are dozen or so time zones that correspond to the half or quarter hour of the major time zones, so yes, more than twenty time zones have already passed midnight. But my point is that if you kiss me now, I’m sure that will cover us for any New Year’s superstitions you have.”

“Oh,” Jane said. She pulled Maura down into her lap and into a kiss that quickly became heated. Maura wrapped her hands around Jane’s neck and Jane placed one hand against Maura’s cheek while the other ran over Maura’s thigh.

Remembering where they were, Maura broke the kiss and stood up. “I’m going to get the kids into the living room.”

Jane followed Maura into the living room and said “Hey Billy,” when Maura ushered the boys into the room.

“Hi, Jane.”

“Jane, this is Josh,” Maura said, introducing Will’s friend.

“Hi Josh. So what were you guys playing?” Jane asked.

Billy and Josh launched into an explanation of the game they had been playing and then the conversation turned to the past weekend’s football games and the upcoming weekend’s playoff match-ups. 

When it got closer to midnight, Maura poured glasses of sparkling cider so they could all toast to the New Year and they turned on the television to watch the countdown and the ball drop. As the television cameras panned across people in Times Square kissing, Jane smiled and winked at Maura.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


Saturday morning, Will climbed into bed with Maura. The remainder of the week after New Year’s Eve she had still been on vacation from work and he was still on school break. They’d arranged to some more activities with a few of his friends and their parents, whom Maura hadn’t found to be very friendly in general. 

It had been harder to be social with the other parents at his school than it was in San Francisco, where, at least at his school, people were more relaxed in general and their was more diversity among both students and parents. Here, she wasn’t sure if his friends’ parents pitied her because she was a single mother, were intimidated by her because of her job, or simply didn’t like newcomers. They reminded her of the parents of the other students at the schools she had gone to as a child, which made her wonder if this was really the best school for Will.

Today was just going to be the two of them until she went out with Jane in the evening. “We should really go shopping today to get you some new clothes. You’re growing out of what you have,” she said to Will. “Would that be okay?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Is there anything else you wanted to do today?” she asked.

He didn’t answer, instead he said, “Why are you going out with Jane tonight?”

“What do you mean?” Maura asked, seeking clarification on what part of that bothered him.

“Why do you have to go out? Why can’t Jane just come here like normal?”

“That’s a fair question,” Maura said and took a moment think about how to respond further. “Sometimes friends like to be able to spend time together alone, just like you do with your friends sometimes. I like Jane a lot and I think we’ll continue to spend a lot of time together. Sometimes it will be just the two of us and sometimes all of us will do things together. When Jane and I spend together it doesn’t mean you’ll have less time with either of us. Jane is going to come over to watch football with you tomorrow just like she normally does.”

That seemed to be enough to satisfy him for now. Maura pulled him into a hug and kissed the top of his head. “Can we have pancakes for breakfast?” he asked.

“Sure.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jane threw her button up shirt on over her tank top as she answered the knocking at her door to find Maura standing there holding a plastic take-out bag and a bottle of wine. “Hey, you’re early. I’m almost ready.”

Maura walked inside Jane’s apartment and said, “No need to rush, we aren’t going out.”

“We aren’t?” Jane asked in confusion.

“If you don’t mind, I had some food delivered,” Maura said, holding up the bag in her hand. “I thought we could just stay here. If you would prefer to go out, we can. I think I found some more than suitable restaurant options. However, I was thinking that by staying in we could make the most optimal use of the time we have together this evening.” Maura looked steadily into Jane’s face during her last sentence and hoped that her meaning was clear.

After holding Maura’s gaze for a moment, Jane said, “I’m not really hungry yet.”

“Neither am I.”

Jane moved to take the bag out of Maura’s hand and brought it to the kitchen to put it in the fridge. “Want me to open that wine?”

“Yes, please,” Maura answered, following Jane to the kitchen and handing her the bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Jane uncorked the wine, took two wine glasses out of the cupboard, and poured them each a glass. She leaned back against the kitchen counter and drank her wine. 

Maura took a few sips of wine, set her glass down on the counter, and then stepped between Jane’s legs. “I thought you didn’t like wine.”

“I’m out of beer,” Jane answered.

Jane had only managed to get three buttons on her shirt buttoned before answering the door. Maura unbuttoned them slowly and slid her hands under Jane’s tank top and around her waist. 

Jane finished off the remaining wine in her glass in two large gulps and put the glass down. Immediately Maura’s lips were against hers and Maura was pushing her shirt off of her shoulders. Jane shrugged out of her shirt and then grabbed onto Maura’s hips, deepening the kiss. Maura’s hands moved back under Jane’s shirt against her bare skin.

Jane slid her hands down Maura’s legs and under the hem of her dress, and then trailed her fingers up the bare skin of her thighs. Jane broke the kiss with a gasp as Maura’s hands moved around to her abdomen.

“Should we move to the bedroom?” Maura asked.

“Are you sure?” Jane asked.

“I’m sure. Are you?”

“Yeah.”

In the bedroom, Maura turned her back to Jane and said, “Unzip me?”

Jane stepped behind her, put her hands on Maura’s waist, rubbing the fabric of Maura’s dress against her skin, and placed a kiss against Maura’s shoulder. “You look beautiful,” Jane said and pressed another kiss to Maura’s shoulder and then to her neck. She pulled down the zipper on the back of Maura’s dress, then pushed the straps off of Maura’s shoulders to press another kiss there.

Jane moved away, letting Maura finish taking off her dress. Maura hesitated for a second, after letting the dress fall to the floor, and then hung the dress over the back of the chair in the room. Then she moved in front of Jane and pulled Jane’s tank top up and over her head. 

Jane pulled Maura against her and they kissed again as Maura’s hands went to unbutton Jane’s pants and Jane unhooked Maura’s bra. Jane walked Maura backwards to the bed and Maura pushed the covers aside and pulled off her thong before laying down. Jane finished pulling off the rest of her clothes and settled on top of Maura.

After a long period of kissing and simply enjoying the feeling of their bodies pressed together and moving against each other, Jane kissed her way down Maura’s body, covering as much skin as possible. When Jane reached her hip bone, Maura said, “Jane. It’s been a while since…”

Jane stopped for a moment and looked up at Maura to say, “I’ll be gentle.”

“Jane?”

Jane stopped fully and moved so she was face to face with Maura again. “Do you want to stop?”

“No.”

“It’s been a while for me too,” Jane admitted.

Maura nodded and Jane finished her descent, taking Maura in her mouth.

Jane kissed her way back up Maura’s now sweat-slicked body and settled back on top of her. 

After a moment, Maura said, “Do you want to turn over?”

“I don’t like being…feeling…pinned on my back,” Jane answered. “Can we stay like this?”

“Of course,” Maura said. As their lips came together again, she moved a hand between their bodies and between Jane’s legs.

After, they lay facing each other, limbs tangled together, Jane asked, “Are you hungry now?”

“Yes.”

“Me too. What food did you bring?”

“Chinese.”

“I’ll heat some up for us.” Jane got out of bed and found her tank top and underwear to put on. She turned to Maura and said, “Don’t you dare put that dress back on yet.”

“What am I supposed to wear? I can’t eat naked.”

Jane grinned and said, “I’d have to disagree with you about that.” But she opened a dresser drawer and took out a t-shirt and tossed it to Maura.

Jane made a trip to the bathroom and then went to the kitchen and made two plates of food to heat up. Maura, wearing only her thong and Jane’s t-shirt, joined her in the kitchen as the second plate came out of the microwave. Maura sat down at the counter and Jane served their food and sat down across from her. 

“So…” Jane said and then laughed nervously.

Maura grinned, a light blush coloring her cheeks.

“You look good in my shirt.”

Maura looked down and said, “I think it’s a little tight.” She looked back up to find Jane smiling broadly and she laughed. Then she said more seriously, “Were you being honest when you said it had been… a while for you too?”

“Why would I lie?”

“I don’t know. Maybe to make me feel better?”

“You’re the first person I’ve been with since my…injury. For a long time I didn’t want to even be around people, let alone date anyone or be intimate with anyone. Before that, I hadn’t gone out with anyone in, I don’t know, six months or so. But that may as well have been a lifetime ago.”

“What do you mean?” Maura asked.

Jane thought for a moment. “I guess I just feel differently now. I dated before, but it was never a priority for me, and I wasn’t ever interested in a serious relationship.”

“But you are now?”

“I am with you,” Jane answered.

“I am too,” Maura said. She held Jane’s gaze for a moment and then looked down at her food as she said, “I told the babysitter to expect me back later tonight.”

When they moved back to the bedroom, Maura arranged the pillows against the headboard and directed Jane to sit on the bed, leaning back against the pillows. “Is this position okay?” Maura asked her.

“Yeah,” Jane answered as she settled on the bed.

Maura took off Jane’s underwear and moved onto her stomach between Jane’s legs. Jane threaded her fingers into Maura’s hair as it spread over her lap while Maura brought her over the edge.

Maura kissed Jane’s chest as she sat up and straddled Jane’s lap. She moved her lips to Jane’s neck when Jane moved her hand between Maura’s legs. 

It was late, but Maura lingered in Jane’s bed a few more minutes before asking if she could take a shower in Jane’s bathroom. When she came back into the room fully dressed in the clothes she arrived in this evening, Jane was still sitting in bed naked and Maura had to resist the strong urge to rejoin her.

Maura bent over and kissed Jane and said, “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yup.”

“Goodnight, Jane.”

Jane pulled Maura back for one more kiss, before saying, “Goodnight,” and letting her go.


	14. Chapter 14

The following week, Maura and Jane sat together in a corner of the headquarters cafe eating lunch. After chatting for a while Maura said, “I can’t stop thinking about Saturday night. Do you know how difficult it is to be around you right now and not be touching you or kissing you?”

Jane blushed, caught off guard by Maura’s blunt statement even though she felt exactly the same. Sunday afternoon, watching the 49ers game with Maura and Billy and not being able to touch her at all or even allude to their previous night together, had been torture. And there was so much she wanted to say that she hadn’t said that night, mostly about how wonderful and amazing Maura was. Then before the football game was over, Jane was called out to a crime scene. Maura had one of the district medical examiners covering her for the weekend and this lunch was the first they had really seen each other since then. 

Jane recovered quickly, saying, “We could do something about that. You’re the one with a totally private bathroom downstairs.”

“Eew. I’m not having sex in a bathroom,” Maura declared, wrinkling her nose at the thought.

“Did you just say ‘eew?’ I never thought I’d hear that coming out of your mouth.”

“What did you expect?”

“A dissertation on bacteria or something like that. But fine, you have a private office too. We can lock the door and close the blinds,” Jane suggested with a grin.

“That’s highly unprofessional, Detective Rizzoli,” Maura responded with mock seriousness. “But if we get really desperate, if just might come to that.”

Jane smiled but looked down at her plate self-consciously. “I’m sure we’ll be able to figure out something.”

Maura cleared her throat, and changed the subject. “I didn’t tell you—well, I wasn’t sure if I should tell you— Will asked why you and I were going out on Saturday instead of you just coming over like you usually do.”

“Um…okay,” Jane said with a frown.

“I’m not sure if I handled it in the best way.”

“Why?”

Maura shrugged. “I told him that we were going to be spending a lot of time together, and that sometimes all three of us would do things together and sometimes it will be just be the two of us. I wanted him to know that you would still be doing things with him too. But, I wonder if I should have been more explicit about our…relationship.”

“Has he said anything else since then?” Jane asked.

“No.”

“He’s a smart kid and he’s intuitive. Maybe you should just wait for him to ask you more questions when he’s ready. Maybe there are things he’s not ready to think about yet and there’s no reason to rush it. I’m an adult and the idea of my parents dating other people freaks me out a little bit. Or a lot. Maybe he just needs to take this at his own speed.”

“Maybe,” Maura said, unconvinced. 

“Let’s all do something on Saturday afternoon,” Jane suggested. “The three of us haven’t done anything other than watch football together in a while. Does that work for you and Billy? I’m supposed to go to Frankie’s to watch the Patriots game that night, but we can do something before then.”

“I think so. What do you want to do?”

“Why don’t we go to the aquarium? Billy wants to do that right?” Jane asked.

Maura nodded. “Yes, he does. That’s a good idea.”

“I should get back upstairs, but let’s plan on that for Saturday after lunch.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Saturday, Jane, Maura, and Billy took the T to the Aquarium on Boston’s waterfront.

“I haven’t been here in a really long time,” Jane said as she and Maura followed Billy into the main hall. He immediately ran ahead to look at the penguins because they had arrived at penguin feeding time. Jane and Maura stood back from the crowd around the penguin habitat while he went up to the railing to watch.

“I was reading about the building,” Maura said. “Did you know that the giant tank in the center is so big that it was built first and the rest of the aquarium was built around it?”

“No, I did not. Do you always study before going anywhere?” Jane was teasing but when she looked over Maura was looking down, blushing slightly. Jane put a hand on her hip for a moment as she said, “Hey, I was teasing.”

“Sometimes I like to have things prepared to talk about,” Maura explained.

“I like your facts,” Jane said honestly. She leaned in to say softly in Maura’s ear, “I like everything about you.” Before Maura could respond, Jane walked away and joined Billy to watch the penguins. 

After the penguin feeding was completed the crowd there dissipated and Maura joined them at the railing and said, “Are we going to watch penguins all day or should we see the rest of the aquarium?”

“Can we come back here at the end?” Billy asked.

“Of course,” Jane answered. “Come on, let’s go find the old sea turtle in the giant tank and see if she remembers me from when I was your age.”

They walked around the aquarium for a while. Jane hung back a bit and watched Maura and Billy as they moved through the various exhibits. Maura seemed to know something about every species of fish and he seemed genuinely interested in what she was saying, adding his own commentary too.

When they were done their tour, and after watching the penguins for another fifteen minutes, they headed back to Maura’s apartment for dinner. After dinner, Jane lingered, even though she was supposed to be on her way to Frankie’s apartment to watch the Patriots game.

When it was time for Billy to go to bed, he said to his mother, “Can Jane read to me tonight?”

“Oh, um, well, it’s up to her,” Maura answered.

“Uh, okay,” Jane said, looking from Maura to Billy. “Yeah, if you want me to, of course I can.”

“Go change into your pajamas and get the book ready,” Maura told him. 

“What do I do?” Jane asked when he was out of the room.

“We’re reading the Harry Potter books together. We’re a few chapters into the third book. You just have to read a chapter, or two if the first one is short and you want to read more.”

“That’s it?”

Smiling, Maura gave Jane a quick kiss on the lips. “That’s it. Don’t be nervous. It’s just reading a book.”

“I guess I can do that,” Jane responded, pulling Maura fully against her to kiss her again.

“Go,” Maura said. “I’m sure he’s ready now.”

Jane went into Billy’s room. He was already in bed and had the book in his hands. “Have you read Harry Potter?” he asked.

“Uh, no. I maybe saw part of a movie or something.”

“We already read the first two books. You can borrow them if you want,” he offered.

“Oh, yeah, maybe.” Jane saw a chair near the bed and she pulled it over next to him and sat down.

Billy handed her the book and said, “The bookmark is where we stopped reading last night.”

“Okay.” Jane opened the book and Billy lay down under the covers as she read. At the end of the chapter, Jane realized she didn’t know whether that would be considered a short or long chapter so she asked, “Want me to read another chapter?”

Instead of answering Jane’s question, Billy said, “Do you like my mom?”

Jane chuckled at the question. “Of course I do. I like her a lot.”

“Do you love her?” he asked, not missing a beat.

Jane immediately felt her heart speed up. She put the bookmark in place in the book and set the book down on the desk by the bed. “That’s not an easy question to answer, buddy. Feelings are… complicated, especially when you’re still getting to know someone and you’re discovering how you feel about them. It’s better not to rush into anything before you’re ready. Or even if you think you’re feeling something, sometimes it’s better to wait until you’re really sure before telling someone you love them. Does that make sense?”

Billy made a noncommittal sound.

Jane frowned. Talking around the issue like that was stupid. “I care about your mom and I care about you. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, but no matter what, I want us to be friends, both me and you and me and your mom. I would never do anything to intentionally hurt either of you and I know for sure that your mom would never do anything that would hurt you.” After a pause in which Billy didn’t say anything, Jane added, “You can always ask me anything you want to, okay?”

“Okay,” he finally responded.

“Is there anything else you want to talk about tonight?” she asked.

“No.”

Jane stood and said, “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Yeah. Thanks for going to the aquarium,” he said.

“You got it. I think your mom wants to go to the Science Museum so maybe that should be our next trip.”

“Okay.”

“Goodnight, Billy.”

Jane stepped out into the hallway and was surprised to see Maura standing in the dark, leaning against the hallway wall next Billy’s bedroom door. 

While Jane was in Will’s room, Maura had cleaned up a little and then gone to her room to change into her pajamas. She was planning on climbing into bed after Jane left and reading a book until she fell asleep. Once she changed she realized that Jane was still in Will’s room and she assumed Will had talked her into reading extra chapters. She went to relieve Jane, but stopped outside Will’s door when she realized they were talking, not reading. She was going to go in when she heard him ask Jane if she loved her. 

Maura was paralyzed. She couldn’t decide if she should go in the room and make her presence known or walk away so she didn’t intrude on their conversation. Instead she stayed in her spot in the hallway and listened. She was surprised by his question. It sounded so mature and she wasn’t really sure if she wanted him to think he had to worry about her in this way, if that’s what he was doing. 

That was how it sounded, like he was being protective of her, but maybe he was actually worried about any number of other things, including losing Jane. Maura was fascinated by his relationship with Jane. He had lots of friends but she had never seen him connect with an adult like he did with Jane. There were teachers and nannies and babysitters but he never engaged with them the way he did with Jane.

Jane closed Billy’s door and moved closer to Maura to whisper, “Are you okay?”

Maura nodded.

Jane pulled Maura down the hall towards her bedroom and away from Billy’s door. “Did you hear our conversation?” she asked softly.

“You were in there for a long time. I thought he was asking to you continue reading and I was going to come and tell him it was time to go to sleep. But you were talking and I shouldn’t have eavesdropped but when I heard what you were talking about I…I couldn’t leave.”

Jane shook her head as she moved closer to Maura, her hands settling at her waist against the silk fabric of Maura’s pajamas. “Nothing I said was meant to be a secret from you. Was what I said…okay?”

Maura shook her head and laughed.

Jane made a face. “What? Was it terrible? Was it stupid?”

“Jane, it was perfect.”

She took a deep breath. “I should go. I’m really late,” she said but she made no move to leave.

Maura put her hands against Jane’s chest, lightly grasping the fabric under her fingers. “Don’t go quite yet. I want to say something and I need you to let me say it. You don’t have to respond. Actually, you probably shouldn’t respond right now. Just listen.”

“Okay,” Jane answered, furrowing her brow in concern and confusion.

“If we continue doing everything that we’re doing,” Maura said slowly, “I know that I’m…I’m going to fall in love with you. If you any have doubts about the future of our relationship I want you to tell me. I’m…if you break my heart, I can handle it. But I don’t want you to break Will’s. If you think there’s any chance that if things don’t work out between us that you won’t still be a part of his life, then I would prefer that we just be friends.”

Jane shook her head. “Maura-“

“Please, Jane, don’t say anything right now. Just think about it.”

Jane sighed but didn’t say anything else.

Putting her hand against Jane’s cheek, Maura said, “Go to your brother’s. We’ll talk more later.”

Jane turned her head and kissed the palm of Maura’s hand. She started to leave but Maura pulled her back and into a kiss before letting her go. 

Jane smiled at her and before she left she said, “I really like those pajamas.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Sorry I’m late,” Jane said when Frankie let her into his apartment. “Where’s Tommy?”

“With Pop.”

“Seriously? So he’s still in Boston, huh?”

“I guess so. Patriots are winning. You missed a pick-six and two rushing touchdowns. Want a beer?” Frankie asked.

“I’ll get it,” Jane said. When she sat down on the couch next to Frankie she said, “Do you think Tommy is drinking again?”

Frankie shook his head. “Not as far as I can tell, but I don’t know for sure.”

“Do you think we should be more like Tommy?” she asked.

Frankie gave Jane a disbelieving face.

“I mean with Pop. Should we be more forgiving like Tommy?”

“Tommy wasn’t here when Pop split. He didn’t see and hear everything that went between Ma and Pop. But I guess you weren’t really here either.”

“That’s not fair,” Jane argued.

“I know,” Frankie conceded, “but you didn’t have to witness the fights when you were in the hospital. Ma yelling at Pop about how he wasn’t visiting you enough and how he was the one that let you be a cop and how it was all his fault that you were hurt. And the stuff he said back to her, I’m not even going to tell you because you would never even think about talking to him again.”

“No, I didn’t hear that stuff but you didn’t have Ma sitting in a hospital room with you crying for hours on end and asking god why he was punishing her.”

“Okay, it sucked for both of us. But you’ve forgiven Ma, right? Why not Pop?” Frankie asked.

“Because he left. You don’t just walk out on nearly forty years of marriage.” Jane sighed. “It wasn’t always like that between them was it? I always thought they were happy, but were they always fighting like that and just hiding it from us?”

“I don’t know.”

After a few minutes of watching the game in silence, Jane said, “I thought we had a happy childhood. I mean, if you look back now, you’d say it was good, right?”

“I guess. Where is all this coming from?”

“I don’t know. I’ve just been thinking.”

“Are things getting serious with Maura?” Frankie prodded.

“Um, I guess I’m not sure.”

“Is the kid thing freaking you out?”

“No, it’s not. That’s the weird thing. It actually feels totally normal when I’m spending time with both of them. Like today, we went to the aquarium and then had dinner. I even read him his bedtime story. It was…it felt really nice.”

“So what’s the problem?” Frankie asked.

“There isn’t a problem,” Jane answered honestly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Sunday, Jane and Maura avoided the topic of their conversation the previous night. Jane focused on watching the 49ers playoff game with Billy, and left after the game, saying she had errands to run.

On Monday, Jane and Frost were called early in the morning to a crime scene in South Boston. When they arrived, Korsak was already there. “They called you out too? What’s the special occasion?” Jane asked him.

“A patrol officer called the murder in this morning when he came across the car parked here. I guess he mentioned what he thought the murder weapon looked like and once Cavanaugh heard the details from dispatch, he sent me over.”

“Why?” Frost asked.

“I think he thought you two might not recognize the potential significance of the murder weapon.”

“Our victim still in the car?” Jane asked.

“Yup,” Korsak answered.

Jane and Frost walked over to the car and took a look at the body and the otherwise clean and empty car. Their victim was in the driver’s seat of the car with some sort of knife or blade sticking out of his chest.

“What is it?” Frost said to Korsak after he and Jane finished their survey of the crime scene.

“Can’t be certain until it comes out, but it appears to be an ice pick.” Korsak responded.

“What’s special about ice picks?” Frost asked.

“Remember Paddy Doyle?” Korsak responded.

“The Irish mob boss? He’s been in hiding for at least a decade right?”

“Yup. But when he was active, his murder weapon of choice, at least for the murders we believe he was responsible for, was an ice pick.”

“Do we know who the victim is?” Jane asked. “He looks like he can’t be older than 25. He would have been just a kid when Doyle was last around.”

“No wallet or ID on the victim or in the car,” Korsak responded.

Frost pulled out his iPad. “I’ll check the plates and car registration.”

Maura arrived on the scene and greeted the detectives as she walked past them to begin her initial examination of the body. 

“So do you think this was mob related?” Jane asked Korsak.

“The ice pick could just be coincidence or it could be to throw us off.”

“Or it could be Paddy Doyle?”

“Anything’s possible.”

“So there’s no wallet but this doesn’t seem like a robbery. Stabbing someone like that is personal. And if it is an ice pick, no one just carries around an ice pick, right?”

Frost came back over and said, “Okay the car is registered to Mary O’Sullivan of South Boston. According to the DMV, Mary O’Sullivan died last year. The registration on the car is still good through this summer and no one updated it after she died.”

Maura walked over to the detectives and said, “The time of death appears to be between midnight and 4am. I may be able to narrow that down once I perform the autopsy. ”

“We don’t have any identification so we’re gonna need you to run his fingerprints too,” Jane said.

“I’ll do that first thing and send a blood sample for DNA analysis too,” Maura said.

“As soon as you remove the weapon, will you let us know what it is?” Korsak asked.

“Sure. I’ll have the body removed now and start on the autopsy this morning,” Maura said. “I’ll let you know as soon as I can about the weapon and if I get an identification.”

“I’ll have the car towed and go with it for processing,” Korsak said. To Jane and Frost he said, “You two check out the buildings on this street. See if there are any cameras that may have captured anything. Then go to Mary O’Sullivan’s address on the car registration and see if anyone there can shed any light on who our victim is. Let's check back in by noon.”


	15. Chapter 15

Jane and Frost canvassed the area where their unidentified victim was found looking for security cameras. Although the street had a number of businesses on it, the use of outdoor surveillance cameras wasn’t as widespread in South Boston as it was in the Financial District and Back Bay areas of the city, and they didn’t find any security cameras on that street. 

Their trip to Mary O’Sullivan’s former address was a dead end as well. The couple living there now purchased the house after Mary’s death and had no idea who she was or who might be in possession of her car now. They were a younger couple, part of the slow but ongoing gentrification happening in South Boston that was diversifying the neighborhood. As newcomers, still generally unwelcome in the neighborhood as all new residents were, they didn’t know their neighbors and weren’t able to provide any clues for where Jane and Frost might go next in the investigation.

They headed back to headquarters, picking up four sandwiches along the way, to check in with Korsak about the car. They met in the BPD garage where a team of crime scene techs were going over the car. 

“Any luck?” Jane asked Korsak, who was watching the techs work.

Korsak shook his head. “The car has been wiped clean. No prints on the outside and even the inside looks like it was wiped.”

“Sounds professional,” Frost said.

“There’s a pool of blood on the driver’s seat, so it looks like he was killed in the car,” Korsak added.

“Seems like a difficult place to stab someone. He would have had to be completely surprised by whoever stabbed him,” Frost said.

“Or he knew the person and had no idea what was going to happen,” Korsak said.

“And somehow either Paddy Doyle is involved or the killer wants us to think Paddy Doyle is involved? This doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Jane said.

“Nope,” Korsak agreed.

“I’m going to go check on Maura’s progress and bring her lunch,” Jane said. 

“I’ll stay with the car in case anything turns up,” Korsak said. “Will you ask Dr. Isles to send a picture of the vic’s face to us? I’ll run it by the organized crime unit.”

“I’ll check the property records and see what else I can find out about Mary O’Sullivan’s house and car and who else we might be able to talk to.”

“Great. If you get any leads, let me know,” Jane responded. “I’ll let you know if Maura has anything.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maura had completed the preliminary exam of their victim—taking fingerprints and a blood sample, sending the clothing to be examined for evidence, checking the body for trace evidence, checking under his fingernails for evidence in case he fought back, and removing the probable murder weapon—when Jane entered the morgue.

“How’s it going?” Jane asked.

“I was just going to call you. I did the fingerprints first and there were no matches. I pulled the weapon out. I haven’t confirmed yet that it was the cause of death, but it is an ice pick.”

“Prints on the ice pick?” Jane asked hopefully.

“No. And no sign that our victim fought back at all.”

“Damn. We’ve got nothing so far.”

“I’ve taken samples for DNA but you know those can take a while for processing,” Maura said.

“Is there anything you can do to speed them up?”

“I can try but I can’t make any promises.”

“Ask for a rush because of possible mob connections.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Can you take a lunch break before you do the autopsy?” Jane asked. “I brought you a sandwich.”

Maura sighed but said, “I suppose I can take a short break. Go to my office. I’ll clean up and meet you there.”

Maura joined Jane on the couch in her office and carefully unwrapped the sandwich Jane handed her. “You haven’t said much since we talked Saturday night,” Maura said cautiously after a few bites of her sandwich.

Jane smiled at her and said, “You told me to think, so I’ve been thinking.”

Failing to suppress her own grin, Maura said, “Do you have any thoughts you want to share?”

Jane’s expression turned serious as she said, “I understand your perspective and I completely understand you wanting to protect Billy. I could promise that I’ll always be here for him, but I don’t see any point in making promises now that I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep.”

“So…what does that mean?”

Jane sighed. “I really can’t imagine being friends or even simply being around you without always wanting more. Would it be so easy for you to go back to being friends?”

“No, of course not,” Maura responded softly.

Jane looked away from Maura’s intent gaze. “Before I met you and Billy, I was…I don’t know… This sounds stupid, but the best way to describe it is that I wasn’t really living. After I returned to work when my hands recovered, I spent as much time as possible working, and when I wasn’t working, I wasn’t doing anything. I barely left the apartment if it wasn’t for work. If it wasn’t for you and Billy, I’m sure that would still be the case.  So I understand your concern for him and not wanting him to get hurt if things didn’t work out between us, but…”

“What is it?” Maura prodded gently when Jane trailed off.

“Not having the two of you in my life would be losing everything good that’s happened to me in the last year. But that doesn’t mean I want to take the safe route and just be friends. I think we’ve been cautious and careful so far and if we continue doing that then we’re doing everything right.”

Before Maura responded, Jane’s phone buzzed and she pulled it off her hip to look at it.

“Shit. Frost wants to talk. I should go.”

“Thank you,” Maura said

“For what?”

“For everything you just said.”

Jane smiled weakly and nodded. “Oh, before you do the autopsy, can you email me, Frost, and Korsak a picture of his face?”

“Of course,” Maura said, nodding. “I’ll let you know if I get any new information.”

“Me too.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Anything from Dr. Isles?” Frost asked when Jane arrived back in the bullpen.

“No hit on the fingerprints and no sign that he fought back at all. What do you have?”

“The sale of Mary O’Sullivan’s house was handled by a lawyer. I found his name in the property records. I called him and he said he was hired by her daughters to sell the house for them.”

“Car too?” Jane asked.

“No. He didn’t know anything about a car.”

“Damn. Have you checked missing person reports?”

“I did. It’s harder without a name, but there weren’t any filed in the past few weeks that match our victim.”

“So what do you want to do now?” Jane asked. “We could go talk to O’Sullivan’s neighbors, but this case doesn’t seem related to her at all.”

“Maura just emailed a pic. We could go back and knock on doors on the street where he was killed. Maybe see if anyone recognizes him or remembers seeing him with anyone.”

“Might as well. What’s Korsak up to?”

“I think he’s trying run down a CI, but he was being all secretive about it.”

“Okay, let’s go. He’ll let us know if he has anything.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of Jane and Frost’s afternoon and evening was equally unsuccessful as the morning and they decided to break and regroup the next morning. In the morning, as they plotted potential next steps while waiting for Korsak to arrive, Jane received a text from Maura that read: _Come to the lab ASAP._

It was the first Jane had heard from Maura since lunch the previous day. The previous night, Jane arrived home after 8pm and she had thought about knocking on Maura’s door, but decided against it, not wanting to disrupt her and Billy’s nighttime routine.

To Frost, Jane said, “Maura’s got something. I’m going down there.”

When Jane entered the lab, Maura was sitting in front of the computer but staring off into space.

“What’s going on?” Jane asked. When Maura didn’t respond right away, Jane put a hand on her arm and said, “Are you okay? You look pale.”

“I don’t know,” Maura responded.

“You don’t know what?”

“If I’m okay,” she said vaguely.

“What’s going on, Maur?”

“Whenever anyone starts working in the lab we submit a DNA sample so that if we ever accidentally contaminated a sample from a body we would know and a clean sample could be taken,” Maura explained, now speaking with a clinical detachment as she focused on the science. “Yesterday, I sent hair and blood samples from our John Doe and they were flagged for contamination.”

“Okay, so you accidentally contaminated them. Not a big deal.”

Maura shook her head. “I had one of the lab techs take more samples last night and send them for processing. I got another message this morning that the second sample was also flagged for contamination, so I looked more closely at the results.”

“And?” Jane prodded.

“The results show a very high likelihood that John Doe is my half brother.”

Jane’s jaw dropped. “What? Are you serious? How high of a likelihood are we talking about?”

Still maintaining the same clinical tone, Maura said, “Based on the genetic markers these results are comparing, there is about a 95% probability that we’re related.”

Jane was stunned into silence for a moment but once she thought through the implications of what Maura was saying, she said, “Maura, you need to delete those results from the system.”

“What? I can’t tamper with evidence!”

“That’s not evidence. It’s information that could get you killed.”

Maura shook her head, searching for a way to respond. 

Jane continued, “We don’t know who killed him or why. But we do know that whoever did it killed him in a way that was supposed to make us think of Paddy Doyle, one of the city’s most notorious mobsters and killers, while leaving us no other clues. Any connection to our John Doe could make you a target too and I’m not letting that happen. Get rid of those results or I’ll have Frost do it anyway.”

“That means you’re suspicious of people inside the police department,” Maura said.

“Of course I am. The only way Doyle has avoided being arrested this long is that he had moles inside the police, FBI, whatever. So delete those records and don’t tell anyone else about them.”

“Jane, what if…what if someone notices or what if this information comes out later and I’m questioned about my role in the case?”

“Maura, please, at least temporarily, until we have more information about our victim and who killed him, please take these results out of the system.”

Jane’s phone buzzed with a text from Frost: _Korsak has news. Meet upstairs._

“For Christ’s sake,” Jane sighed. “Okay, I gotta go back upstairs. I’m sorry, we haven’t even talked about what this means for you, finding out you may have a half brother. Are you doing okay?”

“I…I think I’m mostly in shock.” Maura shook her head and waved Jane off. “It’s okay. Go, do your job, find his killer. We can talk later.”

Before leaving, Jane kissed Maura’s cheek and said, “Please be careful.”

When Jane arrived back in the bullpen, Korsak brought her and Frost to an empty interrogation room and closed the door behind them.

“What’s up?” Jane asked.

“I met with a CI from South Boston this morning and showed him the picture of our victim. He said he’s seen him around Southie the past couple of weeks hanging with some low level coke dealers. But our victim was telling people his name was Colin Doyle. He claimed he was Paddy Doyle’s son and he said was trying to find his father.”

“Fuck!” Jane hissed and without another word sprinted out of room and down the hall to the stairs, leaving a bewildered Frost and Korsak behind her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


After Jane left the lab, Maura looked again at the DNA report, searching for any other clues in the DNA analysis, despite knowing it could tell her nothing more than what she already knew, that the man she performed an autopsy on the previous afternoon was her half brother. Sighing, she she deleted all records of the DNA reports.

She went to the adjoining room to the bank of cold chambers and opened the one with her half brother’s body inside. She slid the drawer out and unzipped the body bag just enough to reveal his face. 

She stood looking at his face, searching for evidence of their shared genetic makeup. His nose, she thought. Maybe they had the same nose. Although how could she really tell just by looking at his lifeless body? She would never know what he was like or how he looked when he was laughing or upset.

She felt movement behind her and turned her head around, thinking maybe Jane had returned. Instead a man moved into the room and stepped beside her. She froze in place as she recognized him as Paddy Doyle, the mobster who had gone into hiding more than a decade ago after he was tipped off that the FBI was about to arrest him. She had seen his picture on FBI Most Wanted lists since she started working in the San Francisco Medical Examiner office.

He looked from Maura to body in front of them and said gruffly, “He’s my son.”

Maura tried to remain calm as she processed the potential implications of that statement. “What’s his name?” she asked.

“Colin. Colin Walsh.”

“What was he like?” she asked cautiously.

“He was raised by his mother. I didn’t know him the way I would’ve wanted to. He was a great artist and he was smart. Like you,” he added. “But he was also too much like me and that got him killed.”

“Who killed him?” Maura asked.

“I don’t know,” Doyle answered. “But I do know that my enemies wanted to draw me out by killing my son. I wasn’t a part of my son’s life because I wanted to protect him from something like this happening to him. When he figured out that I was his father, he foolishly tried to follow in my footsteps and he tried to track me down.” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his wallet, from which he pulled a plastic photo holder and handed it to Maura. “If you’re half as smart as I think you are, Maura, you’ve already figured this out.”

Maura looked through the photos and in disbelief said, “This is me. I can’t be more than three years old in this one. And this is my high graduation.”

“I was at your college and medical school graduations too. I’ve always kept an eye on you to make sure you were safe and well taken care of.”

“Why are you telling me this. Why now? Why would you stay hidden for all of these years and only appear now?”

“You’re in danger, Maura. You and William.” 

“Don’t talk about my son,” she said sharply.

“If anyone finds out that you’re connected to me-”

“You mean if anyone finds out that you’re my biological father. I’m not ‘connected’ to you,” she said angrily. 

He nodded.

“What about my birth mother? Is she alive? Who is she?”

“Yes, she is alive. And I’m going to protect her too by keeping her identity a secret.”

Maura heard footsteps running through the lab and Jane suddenly appeared in the doorway with her gun drawn. “Hands up, Doyle.”

He half-heartedly raised his hands in a placating gesture and said, “Detective Rizzoli, there’s no need for your weapon.”

“Jane, don’t. It’s okay,” Maura said when Jane looked at her.

Jane kept her gun trained on Doyle and growled, “How do you know who I am?”

“I know who you are because you’re important to my daughter,” he answered.

“I’m not your daughter,” Maura shot back. “I have two parents who raised me. I’m their daughter.”

Maura’s anger helped to calm Jane and she lowered her weapon. “What are you doing here?” Jane asked Doyle.

“I came to say goodbye to my son and to make sure Maura understood the danger she was in.”

“It seems like you’ve accomplished those things. I think it’s time for you to go,” Jane said.

Maura nodded at him and then looked down. She realized that she was still holding the photographs of her and, tentatively, she held them out towards Doyle. 

He took the pictures and nodded at her. Wordlessly, he walked past Jane and left. 

Jane watched him leave the morgue and then turned to Maura and said, “Are you okay?”

Maura nodded. 

“Is he really…?”

She nodded again. “He had pictures of me…high school, college…when I was little. He kept track of me. He said he kept an eye on me,” Maura said, almost more to herself than Jane. The she looked up at Jane and said, “Why didn’t you arrest him?”

“Paddy Doyle arrested in the office of the Chief Medical Examiner who also happens to be his daughter?” Jane said, eyebrows raised.

“Biological daughter,” Maura clarified. “You didn’t arrest him to protect me?” 

“Of course. And we’re not going to tell anyone else what happened in here today because as much as I hate to admit it, he’s right, you are in danger. Did you delete the DNA test?”

“Yes.”

“Good. You understand the potential danger you’re in now, right?”

“I understand that I’m in danger, that my son is in danger, because my father is a murderer.” 

“He’s not your father. He’s just the… sperm donor,” Jane tried to reassure her.

“Will’s father was essentially just the sperm donor too, but there are times when I see so much of Ian in Will. What if I am like Paddy Doyle. Look at my job. I’m surrounded by death.”

“But you’re not the one doing the killing. He wasn’t born a murderer. He chose to kill people. You’re nothing like him.”

Maura smiled at Jane half-heartedly and then moved closer to Jane, allowing Jane to wrap her arms around her in a tight hug.

“Can I take you home?” Jane asked.

“I have work to do here and so do you. You still have to find who killed Colin.”

“Unless Doyle finds him first.”

“He said he didn’t know who did it,” Maura told her as she stepped out of Jane’s hug.

Jane considered that. Even if Doyle didn’t know who killed Colin yet, he had vastly greater resources in South Boston to figure it out before they did. “I’m going to station a uniform outside the morgue for now. I’ll just say that there’s a security concern involving one of the homicide victims. How is Billy’s school in terms of security?”

“They wouldn’t even let you on campus without a security check first,” Maura answered.

Jane rubbed her hands nervously. “What time does school end for him?”

“Today he has after school activities until 4.”

“Can I take you to pick him up today and bring you both home?”

“Do I have a choice?” Maura asked.

Jane answered by saying, “Would you prefer me or a police escort?” 

“What am I going to tell Will about why we’re picking him today?”

Jane shrugged. “Nothing. He’ll be excited to see you, he won’t care why you’re picking him up today. We’ll get pizza and play games and he won’t even think about it.”

“What about the case? Shouldn’t you be working, not taking care of me?”

“Korsak and Frost can handle things. My priority is making sure you are safe.”

"I don't like feeling as if I have no say in what happens to me or on my behalf," Maura said, anger creeping back into her voice.

"You do have a say. If you want me to back off I will. I'll disagree with that decision, but I'll do whatever you want me to," Jane responded.

“Okay. But until it’s time to pick up Will, you go and do your job. I’ll be fine here.”

Jane nodded. “Call me if you need anything until then.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


The next morning Jane and Maura were called to another crime scene in South Boston. The previous day, Jane had returned to the bullpen and told Korsak and Frost nothing more than that she had been concerned for Maura’s safety with Doyle’s son in the morgue and that’s why she had run off to set up security downstairs. They spent the afternoon consulting with the Organized Crime Unit going over who Colin may have been involved with and who might have killed him to go after Paddy Doyle.

At 4pm Jane and Maura picked up Billy as planned and Jane spent the evening with them. Maura sent her home at Billy’s bedtime, promising to call 911 if anything out of the ordinary happened. Jane had two unmarked police cars stationed on their street in case anything did happen.

This morning, Jane recognized their new victim as one of the men the Organized Crime detectives identified as a rival of Doyle’s, Tommy O’Rourke. They found him with an ice pick through the chest. Attached to the ice pick was a picture of a teenager, easily identifiable as Colin, wearing a graduation gown. 

“I guess Doyle figured it out before we did.”

“I’m not surprised,” Korsak said. “The Irish mob prefers to take care of their own business. We won’t hear anything from anyone in Southie about O’Rourke’s death or Colin’s now.”

Maura picked up the picture of Colin and looked, wide-eyed, at Jane. 

Jane could only shrug in return.


	16. Chapter 16

Thursday afternoon, Jane brought lunch down to Maura’s office and they sat in subdued silence eating. 

Finally Maura said, “You don’t have to treat me like I’m a delicate flower. I’m okay.”

“I’m just trying to be respectful of whatever time you need to deal with everything that happened in the past few days. If you want to talk about anything or not talk about anything, I’m here for you. But I don’t want to push you.”

Maura stood and began pacing back and forth the length of her office. “That’s exactly what I’m talking about. You can say it out loud. Paddy Doyle is my biological father and I had a half brother who was violently murdered before I got a chance to meet him. The only person who can tell me who my birth mother was is a violent mobster.”

Jane didn’t say anything and just watched Maura pace and talk.

“I…a long time ago, I resigned myself to never being able to learn anything about my birth parents. But when I was younger, I never spent much time thinking about my biological father. It was always my birth mother I wanted to meet. I think it was because my mother was so very motherly. I always wondered what it would be like to have a mother who made my lunch and went on school field trips, and who was warm and affectionate. I wondered if my birth mother would have been like that. Now I’m wondering what kind of person she must of been to be involved with Paddy Doyle.”

“That was a long time ago. You don’t know what kind of person he was then.” Jane stood and tried to stop Maura’s pacing, but was brushed off.

“Why are you defending him?” Maura asked.

Jane leaned against the edge of Maura’s desk. “I’m not defending him. I’m defending you. The choices he made in his life have no bearing on who you are as a person.”

“Do you really believe that?” Maura asked, her voice softening.

“I know you, Maura. There isn’t a mean or evil bone in your body. Nothing about you has changed simply by learning this information. I don’t know about nature or nurture or anything like that. I just know that you are a good and kind and wonderful person.”

Maura changed the subject and asked, “What’s going to happen next with Colin’s case?”

“As far as I’m concerned it’s closed, but officially it will remain open and we’ll continue to work the case. At this point though, we’ve exhausted all the leads and the forensic evidence provided nothing, so someone would have to confess or come forward with some information for the case to be closed,” Jane explained.

“What about O’Rourke?” Maura asked, thinking about the man she had performed an autopsy on the day before.

“Essentially the same. I’m assuming there won’t be any useable forensic evidence there either, and I don’t expect anyone to confess or come forward as a witness.”

“Do you think O’Rourke killed Colin?” Maura asked. 

Jane, knowing that implicit in Maura’s question was also the question of whether Paddy Doyle killed O’Rourke, answered simply, “Yes.”

“This isn’t like me,” Maura said.

“What isn’t?”

Maura stopped her pacing in front of Jane and said, “All of this nervous energy. The pacing and perseverating.”

Jane leaned forward and took Maura’s hand to pull her closer until she was standing between Jane’s legs. Jane slid her hands around Maura’s hips and Maura sighed, visibly relaxing. “What can I do to take your mind off of everything?”

Maura gave her a crooked smile and said, “Will is going to a friend’s house on Saturday. It’s supposed to be a sleepover.”

“Does that mean…we get to have a sleepover?” Jane asked cautiously.

“I was thinking perhaps we could do that,” Maura said, sliding her hands up Jane’s arms.

“So are we good?” Jane asked. “I’m not sure if we finished talking about… us.”

“I thought about what you said to me on Monday and everything that happened in the past few days. Actually, I didn’t get much sleep the past two nights. I kept thinking about Colin and Paddy Doyle, but I tried to take my mind off of that by thinking about you and us.”

“Any thoughts you want to share?” Jane asked, repeating the question Maura asked her a couple of days earlier.

“I’m still nervous, for the same reasons I told you on Saturday. But I thought about what you said about not taking the safe route. I guess I’m willing to take a risk with you.”

“You guess? I thought you didn’t guess.”

Maura smiled and nodded. “I guess I’m making an exception.”

Jane leaned forward and Maura met her halfway for a kiss. “What are you doing the rest of the day on Saturday?” Jane asked.

“I was planning on looking at some houses that just came on the market.”

“Oh. Already?”

“It’s a little early to be looking, but I want to get a sense of what might be available and I don’t want to miss the perfect house so I’m starting now. Do you want to come with me?”

Jane shrugged. “Alright. If you don’t mind me tagging along.”

“I would be happy to have your input,” Maura said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Saturday afternoon, Maura dropped Will off at his friend’s house after a morning of listening to him complain about not being able to come with them to look at houses.

“Why can’t I go with you?” he asked again in the car.

Maura eyed him in the rearview mirror. He was pouting with his arms crossed. “Because,” she answered calmly, “you have plans with your friend that I know you’ve been looking forward to all week. You’re going to have a lot of fun today and tonight.”

“I want to go with you and Jane,” he whined.

“Not today sweetheart. This is just a first look at a few houses. I promise you’ll get to come with me to see any homes I like, okay?” When he didn’t respond, Maura said, “And tomorrow you have two football games to watch with Jane. Conference championships, right?”

“Yeah.”

He dropped the subject and when they arrived at his friend’s house she made small talk with the boy’s parents until Will and his friend were completely absorbed in playing with each other.

Maura went back to the apartment building to pick up Jane and they went to meet her real estate agent. 

“Where are we headed?” Jane asked in the car.

“Beacon Hill.”

“Any particular reason you want to live there?”

“Primarily I think I like the idea of living around all the history there. I love the architecture with all of the brick homes and even the remaining cobblestone streets. I like that there is so much to do within walking distance and we would have easy access to all of the city. I’m going to look in some other areas too but I like the idea of Will growing up in the city,” Maura answered.

Their first stop was a three story townhouse and they met Maura’s real estate agent outside the house. After Maura introduced Jane, the agent told them a few details about the listing while showing them around the first floor kitchen, dining, and living rooms, and then, thankfully, let them look around the rest of the house on their own.

Jane felt like she was walking around a museum. There were marble floors in the hallways and elaborate pieces of art and ornate light fixtures in every room. Every bedroom looked it was prepared for the Queen to visit and the bathroom fixtures looked they belonged in a castle. Jane had the realization that she had no idea what Maura’s decorating style would be in her own home. Obviously Maura hadn’t done much in her current apartment since she wasn’t planning on staying there long.

In the third floor master bedroom, which had a thick rug and absurdly heavy looking curtains, Maura asked, “What do you think?”

“Um, it doesn’t matter what I think,” Jane deflected.

“I think the interior decorating is atrocious,” Maura said. “It would cost a fortune and take months of work to undo the garish mess they’ve made of what would otherwise have been a nice house.”

“Oh, thank god,” Jane said while laughing.

“What?”

“I got concerned that you might love this style and I honestly wasn’t sure how I was going to handle that.”

Maura joined in Jane’s laughter and said, “It’s hideous.” When their laughter subsided, Maura said, “It does matter to me what you think. I certainly want you to be comfortable in my home since I hope you’ll be spending a lot of time in it.”

Jane captured Maura’s lips in a kiss. As the kiss deepened, she walked Maura backwards until she fell back onto the bed and Jane followed on top of her.

Maura broke the kiss to say, “Um, Jane, this is a stranger’s bed and I don’t know anything about their hygiene practices.”

“Oh, sorry,” Jane said, standing up and pulling Maura up too. “I guess I got a little carried away,” Jane said. Changing the subject she asked, “So, what exactly are you looking for?”

“Well, a house that doesn’t need much work, for one thing. Ideally I want to have enough room that William and I can both have our own space. He’s approaching his teenage years and I want him to have some amount of privacy and his own space to do what he wants with. And I want a comfortable space for visitors so that I can hopefully entice my parents, or at least my mother, to visit regularly.”

“Okay, that’s a good list.” 

“Should we head to the next place?”

“Let’s do it,” Jane agreed.

The next house was a couple of blocks away and a similar style on the outside, a three story brick townhouse. Inside, it was modern and simply decorated and Maura and Jane shared an amused look as they looked around the first floor. 

As the real estate agent talked through some of the details of the house with Maura, Jane picked up one of the listing sheets that were sitting on the kitchen counter. She knew Beacon Hill was one of the most expensive areas of the city, but the listing price of the house still surprised her. She realized that the first house they looked at must have cost as much or more than this one.

Again the agent let them explore the house on their own and when they were upstairs Jane said, “So, um, you can afford a place like this, huh?”

“Well, yes, I can,” Maura responded. Seeing Jane’s furrowed brow, she said, “Are you asking because that surprises you or because it bothers you?”

“I’m a little surprised, I guess, but not in a bad way. I mean, I know the Chief Medical Examiner makes good money, but I didn’t think it was quite this good.”

“My mother’s family is quite wealthy,” Maura said, blushing slightly.

“How wealthy are we talking about?”

“I have a trust that was established when I was a child. I could live on that alone and not work if I chose to,” she explained.

“But you don’t.”

“Aside from enjoying my job, I want to contribute to my community. I want my life to have meaning the same way I assume you do.”

Jane nodded and then said, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pried like that.”

Maura shook her head. “I don’t want you to think I was trying to hide anything from you.”

“I know you weren’t. It’s a little early in the relationship to be disclosing bank statements, right?” Jane joked.

“This isn’t something I tend to tell people because it usually isn’t relevant and even when it is, it can make people act differently towards me.” Maura smiled bashfully. “So what do you think of this house?” she asked, changing the subject.

Jane shrugged. “It’s nice. Maybe a little bland.”

“Hmm, I was going to say it’s been too modernized. It’s lacking any charm of the original architecture. I think I’m done looking for today. Would you like to go out for dinner?”

“Sounds good to me,” Jane agreed.

After Maura finished conferring with her agent, Jane suggested they walk to the North End for dinner. Hand-in-hand they walked the mile or so to Hanover Street and picked one of the many small Italian restaurants for dinner. After dinner they headed to Jane’s apartment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maura woke up and turned onto her back from her position curled against Jane’s chest. She looked at the clock, noting that they must have drifted off to sleep less than an hour ago. She stretched, arching her body off the bed, and realized she woke up because she was cold. She found the previously discarded sheet and comforter and covered their still naked bodies. 

Their first time together had been both more tentative and, for lack of a better word, more routine. It was a releasing of built up tension in the limited time they had. Tonight they had the time to explore each other with no time constraints. Maybe it was because of the stress of the previous week or a sign of their growing relationship, but the tentativeness of their first time was gone. 

Maura’s thoughts shifted to the events of the past week. She could go stretches of time without thinking about Paddy Doyle and then it would pop into her mind. It had only occurred to her later in the week that Doyle might have other children, other people who would be her siblings. It was unlikely that she would ever meet them unless something tragic happened again. It meant that Will would probably never meet anyone from that part of her family. She certainly wasn’t going to tell him anytime soon that he was related to Paddy Doyle.

Jane stirred awake and laid her arm across Maura’s stomach and slid closer to her. “Are you okay?” she asked sleepily.

“Of course,” Maura answered.

Jane’s fingers danced across Maura’s abdomen. “You’re tense.”

“I was just thinking.”

“Anything you wanna talk about?”

“Do you want kids?” Maura asked.

“Sure.”

“Sure?”

Jane chuckled. “Yeah, sure. I always figured if it was meant to happen then it would happen. I would never be as brave as you were though and try to do it on my own, so first it would require a partner who wanted kids. What about you? Did you ever think about having more kids?”

“Yes, although…most of the time I have really enjoyed it just being me and Will. We’ve always been a good team. I didn’t want to have another child on my own while Will was young. But when I started thinking about the possibility of moving to Boston and taking this job, I also thought that maybe after we moved here and got settled in that I would consider adopting. But I’m not sure.”

“Any kid would be lucky to have you as their mother.”

“Thank you,” Maura said softly. “I should probably try to sleep. I’m supposed to pick up Will by 9 tomorrow morning.”

Jane’s arm moved back around Maura’s waist. “Mmm, okay, goodnight.”

Maura turned her head and kissed Jane’s forehead, whispering, “Goodnight,” before turning on her side away from Jane. Jane tightened her hold, pulling their bodies together as they fell back asleep.


	17. Chapter 17

Maura woke up in the morning in the opposite position she had fallen asleep in. She was facing Jane’s back with one hand hanging loosely over Jane’s hip. She moved her hand to Jane’s back and traced a finger down her spine, silently naming each vertebrae she passed over. Then trailing out from the spine, she traced each muscle, first to Jane’s shoulder, then around her side and finally down to her hip. As Jane began to wake up, Maura slid her hand back around Jane’s waist and pressed kisses to Jane’s shoulder.

Jane woke up with a groan and turned onto her back. After looking at the alarm clock she said, “I bet you’re always up this early, right?”

“Yes,” Maura answered.

“I had a feeling you would be a morning person.” 

“But on the weekends I usually don’t get out of bed right away.”

“What do you do?”

“Usually I read or meditate until Will gets up. Sometimes he comes to my room and we read together.”

“That sounds nice,” Jane said.

“Should I let you sleep?” Maura asked, but her voice took on a sultry tone.

Jane rolled towards Maura so she was facing her. “No, you definitely shouldn’t. Not when you’re naked in my bed.”

Maura grinned and leaned forward to press her lips against Jane’s while her fingers trailed along Jane’s shoulder and neck. The kiss deepened as Jane put her arm around Maura and pulled them closer together. Their legs tangled together and Jane slid her hand from Maura’s back to her stomach and up to her chest.

“I really like waking up with you like this,” Jane said. “Falling asleep with you and waking up with you. It’s really nice.”

Maura rolled her hips against Jane as she responded, “Yes it is.”

“I-“ Jane started but then scrunched her face as she changed her mind about saying anything.

“What is it?” Maura pressed gently.

“I wish I knew when we would get to do this again, this sleepover, but I know I shouldn’t be thinking that.”

“Why shouldn’t you be thinking that?”

Jane sighed. “Because it’s selfish. I don’t want you to think I’m…that I don’t understand that your priority is Billy.”

“I understand what you’re feeling and I don’t think it’s selfish. But my suggestion for now is that we try to make good use of the time we do have together. Right now, for instance,” Maura added with a sly grin.

With a hand on Maura’s hip, Jane rolled her onto her back and followed so she was on top of her. “You’re very sexy, you know” Jane said. 

“So are you,” Maura responded.

“Not like you. I mean, you’re sexy with your dresses that hug everything just right and those heels you manage to walk around on. But you’re also sexy lounging at home or in your pajamas.”

Maura put a hand around Jane’s back and another around her neck to pull her down into another long, slow kiss. Then Jane moved her lips to kiss Maura’s neck and then her collarbone, kissing across it and then to the valley between Maura’s breasts before Maura arched her body upwards and then pulled Jane’s head back up to kiss her. 

Jane moved a hand from Maura’s hip to her thigh and pushed her leg wider to tease Maura’s inner thigh with her fingertips. Maura’s fingers dug into Jane’s shoulders as Jane’s hand moved higher and she said, “I want to touch you too.”

Jane shifted, propping herself on an elbow, so Maura could move a hand between them and they found a rhythm as their bodies moved together. 

After they were satiated they once again lay on their sides facing each other. Maura mentally calculated how much longer she could stay there before she absolutely had to get up to go pick up Will.

Breaking their comfortable silence, Jane said, “Tell me something that surprises you about me.”

Maura smiled at the question and at her answer. “You like to cuddle.”

“Really?”

“Especially in bed, you are definitely a cuddler.”

“Well, I won’t deny that I am with you. But why does that surprise you?” Jane asked.

“I don’t know,” Maura said, shrugging her shoulders. “You’re so reserved sometimes and you often give off this whole tough and standoffish vibe. I suppose I wasn’t expecting all the cuddling. So, what surprised you about me?” she asked eagerly.

Jane looked thoughtfully at Maura for a moment before answering, “I think I’m surprised by how unassuming you are. There are so many reasons you could be pretentious or arrogant. You’re brilliant, gorgeous, and apparently rich on top of it. But you’re still so modest. It surprises me but it’s also one of the things I like most about you.”

“You’re sweet,” Maura said softly.

“Does that surprise you too?” Jane asked jokingly.

“No. You’ve been sweet to me since we met. I’m sure you want to hide that too, but you’re not very good at hiding it.” Maura took another look at the clock and said, “I really have to shower before I pick up Will, so I should go.”

Jane groaned in protest but said, “I’ll see you around three right?”

Maura got out of bed and found her clothes from the previous night to put on to go downstairs to her apartment. “Yes. Don’t worry, Will won’t let us be late.” Maura bent down to give Jane one more kiss. “Go back to sleep. I’ll see you later.”

“Mmm, see you later.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maura picked up Will with the intention of using their time together that morning to tell him that she and Jane were dating. She had talked around it before without saying anything explicit and now the conversation felt long overdue. After she overheard his questions to Jane the previous weekend, she planned to talk to him about it, but that plan had been delayed by everything that happened with Paddy Doyle. Truthfully, she didn’t mind the delay. Maura wasn’t sure why exactly, but talking to him about her relationship with Jane made her nervous. Possibly because it would the first time she had this particular conversation with him.

When she suggested that they go out for brunch, he enthusiastically agreed. They had a conversation about going back the Beacon Hill restaurant they went to before or trying someplace new and settled on finding someplace new. His friend’s house was in West Roxbury so Maura drove back towards their apartment through Jamaica Plain and stopped and parked on Centre Street so they could check out the brunch options there.

They decided on one of several restaurants open for brunch on the street. Once they were seated and had ordered, Maura asked Will what he did at his friend’s house and he gave his detailed account of games played and a movie they watched.

Then he asked, “What did you do?”

She smiled at him and said, “Well, remember Jane and I went to look at a couple of houses in Beacon Hill.”

“Were they nice?” he asked.

“They were okay, but I don’t think either of them is right for us. There will be plenty more houses to look at.”

“Then what did you do?”

“Oh, um, Jane and I went out for dinner and then we went home,” Maura answered and then changed the topic. “Are you excited for the football games today?”

“Yeah,” he answered as if that should be obvious.

“Hey, I have a question for you,” Maura said as she remembered something she had been thinking about since a conversation with her mother during their Christmas vacation. “Do you want me to call you Billy instead of Will?”

He looked thoughtful for a moment, tilting his head to the side in a way that Maura knew mimicked the same action she made. “No, I call you Mom and you call me Will. That’s like our own thing.”

Maura smiled, stifling a full laugh. “Okay, sweetie. If you change your mind just let me know, okay?”

“Okay,” he agreed with a shrug.

Not having anything else to say to delay what she needed to talk about next, Maura said, “There’s something else I want to talk to you about too. You know that Jane and I have been spending a lot of time together recently.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, Jane and I have been spending more time together because we are dating.”

Will responded by saying, “Duh, Mom.”

“Duh?” Maura repeated, shaking her head in surprise. “What do you mean duh?”

“I mean,” he drawled goofily, “it’s obvious.”

“Oh. Well, it’s really only been about a month that we’ve really been dating. I didn’t know it was so obvious. I guess I should have said something to you earlier.”

He shrugged.

“Well, um, is there anything you want to ask me about it?” Maura said.

“What’s going to happen when we move?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Is Jane going to move with us?”

“Oh. I don’t know, honey. That sort of thing requires a lot of serious conversations and we haven’t had any discussions about it yet. It’s…complicated.”

“Ugh,” he groaned. “Why does everyone say that?”

“Why does everyone say what?” she asked, confused by his response.

“‘It’s complicated.’ Jane said it too. Why is it complicated?” he asked.

Maura was momentarily stumped about how to answer that question. She tried never to answer one of Will’s questions by saying that he would understand when he was older, but that seemed like the most accurate thing to say right now. “It’s…” she started, “hard to explain.”

“That’s saying the same thing,” he said, obviously frustrated with Maura’s response.

“I’m sorry, honey. But I don’t have a good answer for you,” she said. “We probably aren’t going to move until at least five or six months from now. A lot can happen between now and then, but if Jane and I are still dating when you and I move, I’m sure we will have a discussion about living arrangements. That’s the best I can do right now.”

He sighed in response.

“Do you have any other questions or concerns you want to talk about?”

“No,” he answered.

“You can talk to me anytime, you know, if you have anything you want to talk about. Or you can talk to Jane if you want.”

“I know,” he said. “You don’t have to worry.”

“Okay,” Maura responded with a chuckle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunday afternoon, Maura got to experience something she had yet to see: Jane being what could only be described as rowdy. Maura and Will went up to Jane’s apartment to watch the two NFL Conference Championship games with Jane, Frankie, Tommy, and Frost, who were all already there with a room full of snacks and non-alcoholic drinks.

Maura had spent the early part of the afternoon listening to Will expound on the merits of the four teams playing today, particularly the four quarterbacks. Although he was still fully committed to the 49ers, who were playing in the later game, Will was also becoming a fan of the Patriots, mostly due to Jane’s influence. 

Will particularly liked Tom Brady and Maura listened to him rattle off a long list of reasons Brady was better than the quarterback of today’s opponent, Peyton Manning. Between listening to all of Will’s football facts and her own pre-game research, Maura felt completely prepared to watch the games with Jane and the guys. But she seriously underestimated the energy level she was going to encounter in Jane’s apartment.

Normally Jane was relaxed and laid back during their Sunday football game watching. Maura didn’t know if it was because of the importance of the game or because it was a different group of people, but she hadn’t anticipated all of the cheering, yelling, jumping around, and good natured arguing and shoving that would be involved in watching the games today. 

Instead of trying to join in the constant stream of conversation going on, Maura sat in her corner of the couch and alternated between watching the game and watching Jane and Will. She felt a certain amount of maternal pride at his ability to join in with Jane and the guys in their talk about the game and she equally appreciated Jane’s willingness and ability to have him participate.

Unfortunately, the game was going poorly for the room full of Patriots fans. After a frustrating first half, the Patriots were trailing 13-3 and during the halftime break, Maura snuck off to the kitchen, needing a little break from all of the noise around the television.

When Jane noticed that Maura had been gone for awhile, she followed her to the kitchen and found her leaning against the kitchen counter. “Hey, are you okay?” Jane asked.

“Of course.”

“Sorry if we’re too loud.”

“It’s fine. I mean, it is a little overwhelming, but I’m totally fine.”

Jane leaned back against the counter next to Maura and said, “Billy’s having a good time, I think.”

“He definitely is.” Maura cleared her throat and said, “I told him about us this morning. I mean, I told him we’re dating.”

“What did he say?” Jane asked seriously.

“He said, ‘duh, Mom, it’s obvious,’” Maura said, mimicking Will’s earlier tone.

Jane’s face broke into a grin. “Really?”

Maura nodded.

“That’s good right?”

Maura nodded again. 

“So…is he okay with us dating?” Jane asked.

Maura laughed. “I think it’s safe to say he is more than okay with it.” 

“Um, okay, good. I guess that doesn’t change things, but that’s great. I want him to be comfortable with it.”

There was a roar from the television and groans and exclamations from guys. “Don’t you want to get back to the game?” Maura asked.

Jane shrugged. “I think the Patriots are going to lose this one. I have a feeling there isn’t going to be a comeback in this game. I’d rather talk to you anyway,” Jane said, nudging Maura with her elbow.

Maura looked down to hide the smile that overtook her face. After a moment she said, referring to their conversation from that morning, “Can I change my mind about what surprises me about you?”

“You’re not limited to only one thing.”

Maura smiled at Jane but then looked down again as she said, “The thing that really surprises me the most is that you actually like me.” Jane started to respond but Maura stopped her by continuing, “You said something to me once about people lining up to ask me out. That’s definitely an exaggeration, but I did date a fair amount, especially before I had Will. The dates almost never turned into anything more, though. There was Ian, which was a completely different situation, and a couple of other relationships that lasted a few months, but nothing more serious than that. If I analyze all of those dates that didn’t go anywhere, I’m the common denominator. So, yes, I am surprised that we not only became friends but then that turned into something more.”

“I don’t know what those other people saw or didn’t see, but I think you’re perfect,” Jane said earnestly.

Maura shook her head, but she grinned at Jane before looking thoughtful again and saying, “When I was pregnant with Will, I accepted that choosing to have a kid meant that my dating life would be significantly curtailed if not disappear altogether. Rather than feeling sad or concerned about that, I felt a huge sense of relief. It was liberating to not have to worry about dating anymore if I didn’t want to, and I was happy.”

A concerned look came over Jane’s face and Maura immediately took hold of Jane’s hand and squeezed.

“My life with Will was and still is incredibly fulfilling. But you make me want things I haven’t wanted in a long time. I was happy, but maybe not as happy as I have been since I met you.” Maura made a face, pursing her lips. “It feels so wrong to say that. I think it’s just that for a long time I put Will’s needs first and now I have a reason to think about my own needs too.”

“I think I feel the same way,” Jane said. “For different reasons obviously, but I feel the same. It’s like we just fit together, you know?”

“Yes, we do,” Maura agreed.

“Jane, what are you doing? The Patriots are driving the ball,” Frankie called from the living room.

“Jane, come watch,” Will called out too.

“Go ahead,” Maura said to Jane, who smiled at her.

Will came into sight from the living room and said, “Mom, come watch.”

“I guess we both better go,” Jane said. 

Maura gave Jane’s hand one more squeeze and then they followed Will back to the television.


	18. Chapter 18

 

Over the past few weeks, Jane and Maura settled into routine as much as they could. Maura’s schedule remained relatively constant but Jane’s was more irregular depending on her case load. She might have a light week or two, but when she and Frost were assigned a new case, that could mean days, if not a week or more, of working without a break.

Depending on her schedule, Jane would usually join Maura and Billy for dinner once or twice during the week and spend Saturday evening with Maura. Sometimes they went out for dinner and Maura got a sitter for Billy, but often they just stayed in and hung out. Now with the football season over and the start of the baseball season almost two months away, they were finding other things for the three of them to do together on Sunday afternoons. 

This Sunday, they decided to go to the Museum of Science.

“What should we do, Planetarium or IMAX?” Jane asked as they all stood in line for their tickets.

“Ooh, one of the IMAX movies is about the human body,” Maura said, reading the information about the movies currently playing.

Jane raised her eyebrows at her and said, “Need a refresher course?”

“No,” Maura said, giving Jane a fake glare. “Will, sweetie, what do you think?”

After careful consideration he answered, “Planetarium.”

“Yeah? Okay. Planetarium it is,” Jane said. 

Jane got their tickets but the Planetarium show wasn’t until later in the afternoon so they walked through the regular exhibits. They started with the computers and technology hands-on exhibit and then Maura tried to direct them to exhibit on medical imaging, but Billy wanted to see the dinosaurs so they headed there. 

Jane and Maura followed him through the skeletons and replicas of dinosaurs, but after a little while they stopped walking while he ran around looking at the rest of the dinosaur exhibit. “Space and dinosaurs,” Jane said, leaning against the railing in front of the reconstructed Triceratops skeleton while keeping an eye on Billy wandering around. “I guess those are still kids’ favorites. I figured Billy would have picked one of the IMAX movies, but I guess space is still better. I was obsessed with dinosaurs, at least until I discovered the Red Sox.”

Maura made a non-committal sound and said, “I was more interested in anatomy.”

“Don’t tell me you always wanted to dissect dead people,” Jane deadpanned.

“Okay…I won’t,” Maura said meekly. Jane only responded with a raised eyebrow and Maura said, “I don’t remember having a dinosaur phase. When I was in elementary school I discovered Antonio Benivieni, a fifteenth century doctor who started the practice of performing autopsies to determine cause of death.”

Jane grinned at her and said, “You must have a really interesting little kid. A real hit at your parents’ dinner parties, I bet.”

Maura only smiled shyly in response. After a moment she cleared her throat and said, “Will has a long weekend at the end of next week. What do you think about going away with us for a few days?”

“Where were you thinking of going?” Jane asked.

“We were talking about Vermont. A number of the other kids at his school have been talking about their weekend ski trips this winter and all of the sudden he’s eager to join in. And I like the idea of getting out of the city and exploring New England a little bit.”

“Has he skied before?”

“We went on a trip to Lake Tahoe a few years ago and we did a little skiing but for whatever reason he wasn’t as interested in it then. Do you ski?”

Jane shook her head. “No, I’ve never been skiing.”

“Do you want to learn?” Maura asked. “You and Will can take a lesson together.”

Jane chuckled. “Does that mean you don’t need a lesson? Let me guess, when you were at your French boarding school you went on field trips to the Alps to ski?”

“Well…yes,” Maura answered, feeling herself blush lightly. She was learning that Jane’s teasing was always playful and never meant to be critical or hurtful, but she still reflexively felt embarrassed sometimes.

Jane shook her head and laughed. 

“So…what do you think?” Maura pressed. “Do you want to come with us?” 

“Did you ask Billy about me coming too?” Jane asked.

“Not yet. I wanted to see if you would be able to come before getting his hopes up.”

“What days are you planning on going?”

“I thought we’d leave either Thursday night or Friday morning and come back on Monday,” Maura explained.

“I’ll have to make sure I can take those days off. You know it’s Valentine’s Day that Friday, right?”

Maura shrugged. “I don’t feel any particular need to celebrate holidays loosely based on Christian saints. I don’t really see the point in us treating each other differently on that one day of the year, unless it had some special meaning for us.”

“So you don’t want a fancy dinner or flowers and chocolates and all that stuff?”

“I don’t need you to give me material objects. If it’s important to you, we can celebrate however you want to,” Maura said. “If it’s important to you, I’ll celebrate any day that you want to.

Jane shook her head and said, “No, I don’t need to do anything for Valentine’s Day either. I definitely don’t need you to give me things. But I want you to know if there are things you want to do, I’ll do them. I mean, not just holidays or whatever, but in general. I might not know how, or even what it is you’re talking about, but I’m still willing to try if it will make you happy.”

Maura smiled and leaned over to give Jane a kiss on the cheek.

Jane pulled out her phone to check the time. “We should grab him, it’s almost time for the Planetarium show. I’ll ask about taking those days off and then you can check with Billy about whether it’s okay for me to tag along.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s not going to be an issue, but that sounds like a good plan.”

They pulled Billy away from the dinosaurs and went to the Planetarium. After the lights dimmed and they leaned back in their seats to watch the show, Maura slipped her hand into Jane’s lap and found Jane’s hand. She received a squeeze of her own hand in return and then Jane linked their fingers together for the rest of the show.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thursday evening after a quick dinner—Jane’s grilled cheese “special,” as she referred to it—Jane, Maura, and Will made the drive to Mt. Snow in southern Vermont. Maura had rented a condo at the base of the mountain for the weekend. It was late by the time they arrived after the nearly three hour drive. Maura roused Will, who had fallen asleep in the back seat of the car during the drive and managed to maneuver him into bed while Jane brought the rest of their things in from the car. Tired after a long day of work and making the drive from Boston, Jane and Maura went to sleep soon after as well.

Maura had already arranged for Will and Jane to take a private ski lesson Friday morning, along with renting all of the necessary equipment for all of them. After breakfast she sent them off for the hour and half lesson. About an hour later she joined them so she could watch a little and see how they were doing. Lesson completed, Jane and Will declared themselves ready to really ski, so they headed to the beginner trails. 

After skiing for about an hour they took a break for lunch, but it wasn’t long before Will was urging them to get back out to the trails, and they went out and skied for a couple more hours. Once they were all thoroughly exhausted, they went back to the condo to  shower and get dressed, and then went dinner at the restaurant at the nearby hotel. 

After dinner Maura put a tired Will to bed, changed into her pajamas, and then joined Jane in the living room. Jane had changed into sweats and made a fire in the fireplace and was now reclining on the couch watching the fire. 

Maura sat down next to her and, leaning her head against Jane’s shoulder. “This is nice.” Maura slid her hand against Jane’s thigh and said, “Maybe I should look for a house in Boston with a fireplace so you can make me a fire all the time.”

“Maybe you should.” Jane turned her head to press a kiss against Maura’s forehead. “Happy Valentine’s Day.” When Maura chuckled, Jane said, “For the record, this was my kind of Valentine’s Day. But I didn’t want to just let it pass by without saying anything. I don’t know why, it just feels wrong not to say anything.”

“I think this was a perfect way to spend Valentine’s Day. Although I was thinking about it and I do want to find some occasion for you to wear a dress for me.”

“Really? Why is that?”

“Because the one time I saw you in a dress you were breathtaking. And I believe you were dressing up for a priest. At least if you dress up for me, it will be for someone who is really able to appreciate it.”

Jane just laughed in response. 

“Thank you for everything today. Did you have a good time?” Maura asked.

“Yeah, I actually did. I guess skiing is pretty fun. Did you have fun or were Billy and I too slow and boring for you on the bunny slope?”

“You know we didn’t just stick to the bunny slope and I did have fun.”

“You can go ski some more difficult trails tomorrow if you want to and Billy and I can hang out,” Jane suggested.

“Maybe you’ll be ready to try some more challenging trails tomorrow. I have a feeling my adventurous son will be ready for them.”

“Or maybe I’ll let the two of you go for it and I’ll find the hot tub.”

Maura laughed but then noticed that Jane was rubbing the palm of her left hand with her right hand and asked, “Do your hands hurt?”

“A little,” Jane admitted. “They get stiff from the cold. I was probably outside a little too long today.”

Maura sat up straight, sucking in her breath in a short gasp. “I’m sorry. It didn’t occur to me that skiing would be difficult on your hands. I should have thought of that.”

Jane flexed her hands in attempt to be nonchalant and tried to wave Maura off. “It’s okay. It’s just something I have to deal with now.”

“Did you do physical therapy for your hands?”

“Yeah, of course. Physical therapy. Occupational therapy. Therapy therapy. I did all of the therapies they required me to go to.”

“Who required it?”

“BPD required a whole bunch of things in order for me to get cleared to come back to work. But, hey, at least it gave me something to do while I couldn’t work. Otherwise it would have just been me sitting at home while my mother fretted over me.”

Maura shifted so she was sitting cross-legged on the couch and facing Jane. She held out her hands and said, “Let me massage them.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Jane said, trying not to feel embarrassed about Maura even noticing that her hands were hurting. 

“I can help. I’m a lifelong student of anatomy, remember?”

Jane chuckled and gave in, turning and crossing her legs to mirror how Maura was sitting and putting her left hand, palm facing up, into Maura’s outstretched hands.

As Maura began massaging Jane’s palm with her thumbs and rubbing her fingers along the muscles and tendons of the back side of her hand, she asked, “Did it help?”

Jane was watching Maura work her thumbs around the scar on her hand. She looked up and said, “Did what help?”

“Therapy?”

Jane shrugged but realized Maura couldn’t see her shrug or her expression because she was paying close attention to her work on her hand. Jane let the fingers of her free hand play against Maura’s knee and said, “Obviously physical therapy helped. But I assume that’s not what you’re asking about.”

Maura shook her head.

“Have you ever been to a therapist?” Jane asked.

“No,” Maura answered.

Jane, watching Maura massage her hand, took a moment to say, “I guess it helped. At first I thought I could bullshit my way through it and just get it over with and get the okay to go back to work as soon as possible. But it turned out that I was required to go weekly for at least three months before getting that approval was even possible. It ended up being okay. I thought I’d have to spend all that time talking about what happened but she, the psychiatrist I mean, said we could talk about whatever I wanted. So at first I just talked about stuff like how my mother was driving me crazy, but eventually we talked about a few things that I think did help in terms of getting prepared to get back to work.”

Maura put down Jane’s left hand and picked up the right one to massage it in the same way.

Jane flexed her left hand and said, “Thanks.” After a moment, she continued, “I felt a lot of guilt because I had put not only myself, but Korsak and other people in danger that day. She helped me with that to a certain degree. And eventually she got me to talk about how I was afraid that I didn’t know if I could trust my instincts anymore, which made me feel like I didn’t know if I could do my job anymore. That was probably the most difficult thing and still is something I struggle with sometimes. But to be a police officer I have to be able to trust that if I have to react to a situation or a threat that I will make the right decision, otherwise I could be putting myself or others in danger again.” 

“Do you ever think about still going to see her?” Maura asked.

Jane shook her head and said, “No.”

“Were you ever diagnosed with PTSD?”

“Uh, no. Of course it was something that was talked about. I had, like nightmares I guess, for a little while, but they went away, I think.” Jane looked up at Maura and found her still focused on her work on Jane’s hand. “I don’t usually talk about stuff like this with anyone.”

Maura stopped massaging and looked up at Jane and said, “I’m sorry. I tend to ask too many questions.”

“That wasn’t my point,” Jane said, rubbing her hands together again and noting that they did feel better now.

“What was your point?” Maura asked.

“That I like talking to you and I like that you ask questions. And that I want you to know these things about me. I want you to know me, but that means you’re going to have to ask questions sometimes.”

They had ignored the fire and not added any more firewood while they were talking and now it was out. Maura shifted onto her knees and moved forward until she was straddling Jane’s lap. Maura looked down at Jane, who had tilted her head back to look up at her, and her hair fell down around her face and Jane’s. “You say the sweetest, most perfect things to me,” Maura said. Jane’s hands lightly circled her waist and she leaned down and kissed Jane’s mouth. 

Jane pulled Maura down on her lap so they were eye level and slid a hand around the back of her head as the kiss deepened. 

The kiss broke apart when Jane slid a hand under Maura’s pajama top and over a breast, eliciting a moan from Maura. 

“Sorry,” Jane said. “I got a little carried away.”

“We should probably move to the bedroom,” Maura said reluctantly.

Jane agreed and they went to get ready for bed. Once they were settled under the covers, Jane said, “You were up early today. Are you concerned Billy is going to come in here in the morning? This is our first, uh, sleepover, where he’s around too.”

“I’m not sure. He was pretty tired after all the skiing today, so he might sleep in later than usual tomorrow. But that is why I set an alarm this morning and was going to for tomorrow as well. He knows we’re sleeping in here together, but I’m not sure I want him walking in on us when we’re unprepared or asleep. Honestly, I don’t know how we are supposed to go about this part of the relationship. I don’t know when to talk to him or what to tell him or if I even need to be worrying about it.”

“I guess I would say let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. We’re on vacation. We’re going to go to sleep fully clothed. If he comes in he’s not going to find us in any compromising positions. I don’t think there has to be any conversation unless I’m spending the night at your place—at his home—and that’s not…I mean, that hasn’t been an issue so far.”

“I feel a little bit like I’m hiding something from him, which I know doesn’t really make any sense, but I haven’t been in this position with him before. I mean, there hasn’t been anyone else in my bed since…well, since Will was too young to remember it now.”

“I still think you should let him come to you with questions. And I still haven't been in your bed, by the way,” Jane said jokingly. “Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

Jane leaned over and kissed Maura’s lips and then said, “Let’s go to sleep. I need my rest to be able to keep up with the two of you tomorrow.”

“Does that mean you’re going to ski again tomorrow?”

“Skiing, then the hot tub,” Jane answered.

Maura laughed and said, “Okay. Goodnight, Jane.”

“Goodnight, Maur.”


	19. Chapter 19

On a Friday a few weeks after their trip to Vermont, Jane brought a salad down to Maura in her office, knowing that otherwise Maura would be too busy to eat that day and that this was the only way Jane would get to see her in what had been an usually busy week in the morgue.

She found Maura in the lab hunched over a microscope and pressed a kiss to her head before saying, “I brought you a salad.”

“I don’t have time today.”

“Come on. You would make me eat if I said that. Take a five minute break with me.”

“Okay, okay. Give me the salad.”

Jane smiled and, deciding against trying to get Maura to move to her office rather than eating in the lab, handed Maura the food.

“Did you eat lunch already?” Maura asked.

“Yup, but speaking of eating, Ma is insisting on having a family dinner on Sunday. Will you and Billy come with me?”

“To family dinner?”

“Uh huh.”

“Is that okay with your mother?” Maura asked.

“Of course.”

Maura grinned at her. “Your mother is too nice. She practically feeds me more meals now than I do myself with all of these lunches she makes for me. Sunday dinner sounds lovely, as long as we’re home by Will’s bedtime”

“No problem.”

“You’re working the rest of the weekend, right?” Maura asked.

“Yup. What’s your plan?”

“I might look at a few houses that just came on the market. Other than that, I’m not sure.” Maura’s phone started beeping and she picked it up to read her new message and then sighed. “I have to get back to work. Thanks for lunch.” 

“You bet,” Jane said. She stood and then, after a glance around the lab, bent down to give Maura a lingering kiss on the lips. “I’ll see you Sunday.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Sunday evening, Jane, Maura, and Billy drove to Jane’s mother’s house for dinner. As they were all talking in the kitchen and getting ready to sit down for dinner, the doorbell rang.

“Are you expecting someone else?” Jane asked her mother.

Angela didn’t answer her, instead saying, “Tommy, go get the door.”

When Tommy came back into the kitchen a moment later, he was followed by his father Frank.

There was a brief stunned silence as Frank looked around the room uncomfortably. Frankie was the first to speak, saying, “What are you doing here?”

“I need a reason to see my family?” Frank responded in an attempt to sound casual. 

“We haven’t heard from you in months,” Jane said.

“Your mother said I could come to dinner.”

“You knew about this?” Jane said, turning to Angela. 

“Yes,” Angela answered. 

“Why didn’t you at least warn us?” Jane asked. “Or at least tell me not to bring Maura and Billy along if this wasn’t going to be just a regular dinner.

Angela sighed and said, “I didn’t think you would come to dinner if you knew and your father has something he needs to talk about with you. I’m sorry, but this seemed like the only option.”

“Great,” Frankie said and stormed off to the dining room.

Jane looked at Tommy, who was standing behind Angela guiltily looking at the ground, and she deduced that he knew their father was coming to dinner too. Jane tried to catch his eye, but he turned and fled to the dinner room as well.

“Who’s this?” Frank asked, looking at Maura. “I thought this was just going to be family tonight.”

Jane put an arm around Maura’s waist and said, “This is my girlfriend, Dr. Maura Isles, and her son Billy. And since they are my guests you can treat them as if they are family.”

Maura held out her hand and said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Rizzoli.”

“Yeah, sure, you too,” he said, shaking her hand and then nodding awkwardly at Billy.

While Angela tried to usher everyone into the dining room where Tommy and Frankie were waiting, Jane held Maura back and said, “I’m sorry that you got dragged into this.”

“I’m sure it will be fine,” Maura responded with a smile and gave Jane’s arm a squeeze.

Jane only smiled uneasily in return. They went into the dining room where Angela was seated at the head of the table with Frankie across from her. Jane directed Maura and Billy to sit next to Tommy and sat down across from them next to her father.

Everyone was quiet as they passed the dishes of food—salad, bread, and two different main dishes, lasagna and linguine with clam sauce—around and started eating. Dinner in the Rizzoli household was usually a loud affair but there was an awkward silence hanging over the table tonight until Frankie broke it by saying, “So, Pop, where have you been?”

“You know, around,” he answered vaguely.

“So you’ve been around but you don’t call or visit?” Frankie responded. “When was the last time you even talked to Jane?”

“It’s okay, Frankie. Let’s just try to have a nice dinner,” Jane said gently.

Everyone fell back into an awkward silence until, with a sigh Angela said, “Frank, you might as well tell the kids why you’re here since I don’t think anyone else is going to say anything.”

Frank set his fork down on the table and said, “I’ve got cancer. It’s my prostate.”

Jane was the first to speak after a moment of stunned silence, asking, “How bad?”

Frank shook his head. “I don’t know. The doctor was throwing a bunch of numbers and information around and I couldn’t really follow it. Now I need to go see another specialist.”

“Prostrate cancer is the most survivable type of cancer,” Maura interjected. “The five year survival rate is over 99%. Most men have a type that is easily treated or doesn’t require any intervention and can just be monitored.”

While Jane nodded appreciatively at her, no one else seemed to know what to do with her statement and Frank said, “Your mother agreed to come with me to my next appointment so she can help me figure out what the doctors are saying and what I’m supposed to do next.”

“You can let us know what we can do to help too, Pop,” Tommy said.

Jane exchanged a look with Frankie and then turned to her mother and said, “Are you sure about this, Ma?”

“Your father needs my help right now and I’m going to help him. It’s the right thing to do, but it doesn’t mean anything more than that.”

As everyone returned to eating Frank tried to ask Jane and Frankie questions about work and their lives and received half-hearted answers in return, while Tommy tried to keep the conversation going by elaborating on their answers when he could.

Eventually Frank turned to Maura and said, “You’re a doctor huh? So I guess you must be pretty smart.”

“Maura is the Chief Medical Examiner for the state,” Jane said.  

“You seem like a real classy lady. What are you doing with Jane?” Maura’s mouth dropped open but before she could respond, Frank focused his attention on Billy. “How about you kid? How old are you?”

“Eleven,” Billy answered.

“Are you smart like your Mom? I bet she sends you to a nice fancy school.”

“Billy is smart,” Tommy said, hoping to stop his father from badgering Billy further. “We played chess and he did really well.”

Frank laughed. “You could tell, huh?” He turned to Maura and said, “Tommy was like an idiot savant. He could play chess but he was useless at everything else.”

Unsure how to respond to that, Maura looked at Jane was looking angrily at her father. “Tommy does a lot of things well, Pop,” she said. “For one thing, he’s loyal. He’s been loyal to you despite everything and you should be grateful for that.”

Billy, who had been quiet for as long as Jane had ever seen him, finally said to Frank, “Jane took me to a Red Sox game last year. And we went to a Patriots game for my birthday. This summer I’m going to play baseball.”

Frank brushed off Jane’s remark and said to Billy, “No kidding. So you like baseball? Frankie here, this kid had a million dollar arm. I thought he’d be pitching for the Red Sox now but he kept whining about his sore elbow.”

“Wanna know why?” Tommy said angrily, finally giving up his efforts to make the dinner go smoothly.

“Tommy, don’t waste your breath,” Frankie said.

“No, I wanna say it. You made him throw so many curve balls he threw his arm out.”

Frank shook his head. “Nah, he was a quitter. So was Janie actually. She was supposed to go to college and that didn’t happen.” He turned to Angela and said, “And remember, we got that piano for her when her teacher said was like a prodigy or something and now it just sits in the living room.”

Both Jane and Frankie stood up then and Jane said, “That’s enough, Pop.”

“Hey I’m just busting balls here, I’m just kidding.”

“And now you’re done. You got what you came for and it’s time to go,” Frankie said, physically pulling his father up from the table.

“Come on, Janie,” Frank pleaded as Frankie ushered him towards the front door with Jane following them. “We’re just joking around like we used to.”

“Well, it’s not funny,” Jane said. “Frankie is a great cop and Tommy is getting his life together without any help from you. All that crap you say to Tommy and Frankie, you can’t ever take that back, Pop. We aren’t kids anymore and we don’t have to listen to you ridicule us.”

“What do you think because you’re playing house with that kid now that you’re an expert on parenting?” Frank spat at her.

Jane clenched her jaw but said calmly, “I don’t have to be a parent to know that you shouldn’t say thing like that to your kids. It’s not funny and it never has been.” 

Angela had joined them in the front hallway and Frank looked at her and said, “Ang?”

Angela straightened her back and said, “Jane’s right, Frank. I’m going to come with you to your doctor’s appointment, but I think it’s best if you go now.”

“Fine, I guess I’ll see you later,” Frank said and stormed out the front door.

Jane turned to her mother and said, “You don’t have to help him, Ma.”

“I know I don’t. But I’m going to because he needs the help. You don’t have to worry about me, I can handle him. Let’s go finish dinner. I’ve got cannoli for dessert.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jane was quiet on the drive home and Maura wasn’t sure what to say to her. Instead she asked Will some questions about the upcoming week at school like she normally would have during dinner on a Sunday night.

Back at their building, Maura unlocked her apartment door and sent Will to go get ready for bed before turning to Jane and asking, “Do you want to come in?”

Jane nodded and followed Maura to the kitchen where she was putting away leftovers Angela insisted on sending home with her. “I would never have invited you and Billy to dinner if I knew he was going to be there,” Jane said.

“If you’re afraid I’m going to judge you based on your family, you shouldn’t be. I wouldn’t do that any more than you would do that to me,” Maura said.

“That’s not it. It’s just that that’s what always happens when we’re all together now. My father criticizes everyone, especially Frankie, and it turns into a big fight. I don’t want you to have to see that.”

“For the record, I know you aren’t a quitter. You may be the strongest, most determined person I know. And you’re one of the best detectives I’ve ever worked with.”

“Thank you, but I don’t need you to tell me my father is wrong. You know, I idolized him when I was a kid. But when I got older I realized that his jokes about Frankie and Tommy, putting them down all the time, weren’t funny, they were just mean. I don’t if he was always like that and I didn’t realize it or if he changed over time into the bitter man he is now.”

Jane had leaned against the kitchen counter and Maura moved next to her and rubbed her hand along Jane’s forearm. “Are you worried about him?”

“Of course. I mean, I’m still really pissed at him, but I am worried.”

“Prostate cancer is the most survivable form of cancer in men. Your mother will get a better sense of what’s going on at his next appointment. I’m happy to help if they have any questions too.”

Jane pulled Maura closer and leaned in to press a kiss to her lips before saying, “Thank you…for knowing stuff like that and for being willing to help.”

“Of course,” Maura said, squeezing Jane’s arm.

Jane sighed and said, “Is it okay if I talk to Billy? I’m not sure what to say but I want to apologize to him about dinner.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Let me see how he's doing getting ready for bed. Do you want to read to him tonight? You can read and talk if you want to.”

“Sure, if it’s okay with him.”

Maura went to his room and came back a minute later and said, “He’s ready for you.”

Jane went to Billy’s room and pulled up a chair to the bed like she had last time. He was was sitting in bed looking through a book and when she sat down. “Still reading Harry Potter, huh?”

He handed her the book and said, “We’re on the fourth book now. You should really read the first books so you can catch up to us and then you’ll know what’s going on.”

“I’ll, uh, think about it, but I want to talk to you about something before we read, okay?” Jane said a she was still forming her thoughts on what she wanted to say to him. “I um…I’m sorry about the arguing at dinner tonight. In my family, we are often loud and sometimes we yell at each other, but it’s almost always because we love each other. But some of the things my father said to Tommy and Frankie were mean and I don’t think that’s okay and that’s why I got angry at him. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah.”

“And I’ve been angry with my father because he left my mother without any real explanation and he hasn’t made any effort to be in contact with me in a long time, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t treat him with respect and love because he’s still my father. But if I had known he was going to be at dinner, I wouldn’t have had you and your mom come because I didn’t want you to have to hear what he was saying tonight. Um, I think I’m rambling so maybe we should just read now.”

“Can I ask you a question?” he said.

“Of course.”

“What does playing house mean?”

Jane didn’t know that he had been able to hear her father say that. “Um, well, I guess I don’t know what my father meant exactly when he said that. He may have just been angry with me and maybe it didn’t mean anything. But he may have meant that he doesn’t think that I’m serious about my relationship with your mom and you. Like I’m just playing around and pretending to care about you. But that’s not true. I care about you and your mom. I’m not going to just disappear one day. You know that right?”

Billy nodded in response.

“Okay. Should we read some Harry Potter? she asked.

Jane read to him for a while and then said goodnight. She left his room, closing the door behind her and found Maura reading a book on the couch in the living room. Maura put her book down when Jane came in and sat down next to her.

“Did you have a good talk?” Maura asked.

“I hope so.”

“I don’t think you have to worry about anything. He seemed totally fine during the rest of dinner and afterwards.” Maura groaned a little as she turned into Jane’s body, laying her head on Jane’s shoulder. “Goodness, I’m so full from dinner. Your mother’s food is delicious but I couldn’t eat like that all the time. Did she always cook like that when you were growing up?”

“Yeah, that was before everyone started cutting out carbs. Ma obviously still hasn’t gotten the message.”

Maura poked Jane’s stomach and said, “I don’t understand how you stayed so skinny eating like that all the time.”

Jane laughed and said, “I wasn’t skinny until I started playing sports. The other kids called me Roly-Poly Rizzoli.”

“They called me Maura-the-Bora. They meant I was boring but they wanted it to rhyme.”

“Yeah, I got it but I’m sure you weren’t boring. I bet the other kids didn’t know what to do with you. If that was the best nickname they could come up with, you must have been a thousand times smarter then them.”

Maura shrugged. “Well, I don’t know about a thousand times.”

Jane only laughed again. 

Maura linked her hand with Jane’s and said, “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course you can.”

“Is there a reason you didn’t go to college?”

“I wanted to be a cop,” Jane responded.

“Is that the real reason?” Maura probed.

“You know my father is a plumber and he’s owned his own business since I was little. There were times when business was slow of course, but overall we were pretty comfortable. But he had a chip on his shoulder about not having gone to college. He wanted me to go to college and Frankie to take over the business. I think he thought that because I was a girl, sending me to college would be a sign of his own success. But I wanted to be a cop and Frankie never had any interest in being a plumber. My father doesn’t know this, but I applied to a few colleges in my senior year of high school and I got in. To some good schools too.”

“Why didn’t you go?”

“My parents would have spent everything he had to send me to those schools and I couldn’t do that to them.”

“So why did you apply?” Maura asked.

“I guess to prove to myself that I could get in. But I wanted to be a cop, so I got my associate’s degree in criminal justice and then went to the police academy. And he thinks, uh, well, I don’t know what he thinks, I guess that I didn’t go to college because I didn’t try hard enough.”

After a moment Maura said, “Can I ask you something else?”

“You can ask me anything,” Jane said, squeezing Maura’s hand.

“Your father said something about a piano. Do you play?”

“Oh,” Jane said and she took a deep breath before responding, “Um, I don’t know.”

“What does that mean? It sounded like you took lessons and that you were good.”

“I haven’t tried to play since my hands were injured and…I don’t know if I can. I don’t know if I still have the dexterity.”

“Do you want to try?”

“I honestly haven’t really thought about it,” Jane said.

“What if I want to hear you play?” Maura asked flirtatiously while tracing the fingers of her free hand up Jane’s thigh.

Jane chuckled and said, “We’ll have to see I guess.”

“Hmm, okay,” Maura said. “I suppose I can be patient.”

Jane just laughed again in response.


	20. Chapter 20

After a winter that seemed to never end, the weather finally warmed up enough for Jane and Billy to play outside again. Coinciding with the start of the Red Sox regular season, he was completely focused on playing baseball and wanted to play as often as Jane was able to.

This afternoon they played catch and then Jane was tossing the ball high into the air so Billy could practice catching pop-ups. He was making the catch about half the time, but so far he hadn’t gotten hit in the face with the baseball, so Jane figured they were doing pretty well. The she started mixing in rolling the ball on the ground to him so he could practice fielding grounders. 

Her father used to do that to her and Frankie when they were kids, spiking the ball hard into the ground so the ball would bounce to them. They both got their fair share of balls to the face when misplaying those grounders. She rolled the ball gently to Billy, figuring she shouldn’t risk throwing a hard grounder at a kid who wasn’t even hers. Plus wasn’t that sort of thing considered child abuse now? If Billy went to his private school with a black eye, Maura would probably have Child Protective Services visiting her by the afternoon.

Jane flexed her left hand after releasing the ball. It was the third day this week they had played baseball and her hands were sore but it was hard to know if it was from her injury or just a sign of getting older. She used to play softball in the BPD league but it had been a few years since she played regularly. Any repetitive activity made her hands sore now, but it seemed that was becoming more and more true for the rest of her body as well with every passing year.

A black town car pulled over in front of their building and Jane noticed a woman getting out. A moment later, Billy yelled, “Grandma,” and ran over to the woman who was now walking up their walkway.

“Hello, William,” she said, as he gave her a hug, and Jane noticed the British accent. She turned to Jane and said, “And you must be Jane.”

“Yes, Jane Rizzoli,” Jane responded and held out her hand. “You must be Mrs. Isles.”

Constance shook Jane’s hand and said, “Please, call me Constance. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Jane. I’ve heard so much about you.”

“We were practicing grounders and pop-ups.” Billy said to her. “I’m going to play baseball this summer.”

“How lovely,” Constance said with an amused expression. “Is your mother home? Shall we go see her?”

“Yeah, she’s making dinner,” Billy answered. They all went inside and once inside their apartment, Billy yelled, “Mom, Grandma’s here.”

Maura walked out of the kitchen with a confused look on her face and said, “What sweetie?” Then she saw Constance and said, “Mother? What a surprise.”

“Hello, darling.” Constance gave a shocked Maura a kiss on both cheeks.

“What are you doing here?” Maura asked.

“I have a new piece showing at the ICA,” Constance replied. “I thought I would surprise you.”

“Well this is definitely a surprise.” Maura looked at Jane as if looking for help but Jane only shrugged. “You and Jane were introduced, right?” Maura asked.

“Yes we were. So this is where you’ve been living? It’s a little small isn’t it?” Constance said as she walked around the living room.

“It’s worked out just fine so far. Where are you staying, mother? We can make room for you to stay here if you would like. You can take my room.”

“No need, darling. I’m staying at the Park Plaza. I checked in before I came over here. How about I take us all out to dinner tonight?”

“It’s a school night,” Maura responded. “And I’m already making dinner. But I hope you’ll join us.”

“Of course,” Constance agreed with a polite smile.

“Will, why don’t you show your grandmother your room and the rest of the apartment while I finish up dinner.” When they left the room Maura turned to Jane, hands on her hips, and sighed.

Jane smiled at the annoyed look on Maura’s face. She rarely got to see Maura at all flustered and it was amusing to see that Maura could get just as easily annoyed at her mother as Jane got at her own.

Maura shook her head. “I’m sorry. I was looking forward to spending the evening with you. This is so like my mother, to just show up and expect everything to happen on her schedule.”

Jane put her hands on Maura’s hips and said, “You’re cute when you’re annoyed.” Maura softened her expression and leaned into Jane, who wrapped her arms around Maura’s back and said conspiratorially into her ear, “You could still spend the night with me.” 

Maura kissed Jane’s jaw but then pulled out of Jane’s arms and said, “That is true. But now I need to finish dinner. Will you help me get things ready?”

“I’m going to run upstairs and clean up first okay?”

“As long as you promise to come back.”

Jane laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ll be right back.” 

Maura finished dinner and Jane set up the table, pulling it out from the wall it was usually pushed against in the small kitchen so a fourth place could be set. Jane set the table and poured three glasses of the wine Maura picked out after her mother arrived.

They all sat down for dinner and after Maura and her mother spent some time catching up, Constance turned to Jane and said, “Well, Jane, I’ve heard a lot about you from my daughter and grandson. I understand you are a police officer.”

“I’m a homicide detective.”

“Of course. I’m sorry, I don’t know the lingo.”

“That’s okay, I’m sure I won’t know any of your artist lingo,” Jane responded.

“You don’t have an appreciation for art?”

“I wouldn’t say that. I’ve been to the MFA a fair number of times and have enjoyed it. But I wouldn’t know how to look at anything with a critical eye, you know what I mean? If you were to start talking about art theory, I wouldn’t know what you were talking about.”

Constance smiled tightly and Maura interjected, saying, “Mother, why don’t you tell us about the work you’re showing.”

“There is an opening night reception Saturday evening for the artists and I have an invitation for you, and Jane too, if you’re free,” Constance said, turning back to Jane. “The focus of the exhibition is art using repurposed or recycled materials.”

“Sounds interesting,” Jane said.

“Can I come?” Billy asked. 

“I think the event on Saturday will probably be too late for you and probably not much fun for kids,” Maura answered.

“But I want to see Grandma’s art,” he argued.

“You do?” Constance said, not hiding her surprise at his statement.

“Of course,” he responded. 

Maura responded to him, saying, “We can go to the museum either on Sunday or some time during the week. How does that sound?”

“Okay,” he responded to his mother. Billy then turned to Constance and said, “Do you want to come to my baseball games this summer?”

Constance was surprised by him again. “Oh…well…I’ll have to see about that I suppose, depending on my schedule this summer and when the games are. But perhaps I can make it to a few.”

“We don’t actually have a schedule yet for his games. But I’ll send it to you once we have it,” Maura said, her voiced tinged with amusement at the turn the conversation had taken.

Billy then turned to Jane and asked, “Can we play catch again tomorrow?”

“It depends on how work goes, but if I’m free we can play. You did a good job on the grounders today,” Jane responded, holding up her hand across the table so she could give him a high-five. “Did you put your glove away already?”

“Yeah,” he answered.

“Good.”

“Would you like some coffee or tea, mother?” Maura asked.

“Oh, no thank you,” her mother responded. “I’m actually getting tired. I think it’s time for to go back to the hotel.”

“Already?” Maura asked, her voice betraying obvious disappointment.

“Yes, I’ve had a long day with traveling and work.”

“Would you like a ride to your hotel?” Jane asked.

“Thank you, but I’ll just call a cab,” Constance responded with the same polite smile to which Jane was beginning to be accustomed. 

Dinner came to an awkward end and while Jane cleaned up the kitchen and Billy went to his room after saying goodbye to his grandmother, Maura walked Constance outside to wait for her cab.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Maura said.

“You are?”

“Yes, of course I am. I wish you had told me you were coming. I could have even arranged to take time off of work and we could have spent the day together.”

“I’ll be busy with the exhibit. I’m not sure how much free time I’ll have.”

“Of course.”

“And I wouldn’t want you to disrupt your busy schedule for me. You’ll come to the reception on Saturday though right?”

Maura nodded. “Yes. I’m looking forward to it.”

The cab pulled up in front of the building and Constance gave Maura a kiss on both cheeks. “Goodnight, darling. I’ll see you soon.”

“Goodnight, mother,” Maura said and watched her mother get into the cab and the cab drive away down the street until it turned at the next intersection. Instead of going back inside, she sat down on the front steps of their building and wrapped her arms around herself against the chill of the spring evening.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Jane finished in the kitchen and Maura was still outside she headed to Billy’s room and asked him if he wanted her to read to him. He agreed and she picked up the book she knew they were now reading, Lemony Snicket’s 13 Suspicious Incidents, because she had given it to him earlier that week.

While reading, Jane heard Maura come back into the apartment and a moment later she stopped at the doorway of Billy’s room. “Can I say goodnight?” she asked when Jane paused her reading.

Maura came into the room and mouthed,“Thank you,” to Jane. She bent over Billy and brushed brown hair away from his forehead to kiss it.

“Goodnight, Mom,” he said.

“Goodnight, sweetheart. Don’t make Jane read for too long okay?” Maura said and then after another smile at Jane, who noted that the smile didn’t quite reach Maura’s eyes, she left his room.

Jane finished the chapter and then said her own goodnight to Billy before going in search of Maura. She found her in her bedroom sitting on the edge of the bed staring off into space. “Are you okay?” Jane asked.

Maura shrugged. “I don’t understand her. I invite her to visit all the time, she makes a big show out of turning up here as a surprise, and then barely wants to stay and doesn’t want to make any other plans.” Maura wiped at a tear that was threatening to fall. “I just don’t understand. I know it will be different when he’s an adult, but I cannot imagine going a day without seeing Will, let alone seeing him only once or twice a year.”

Jane sat down next to Maura on the bed and tried to think of something to say.

“I feel so foolish,” Maura added. “I don’t know why I keep trying and expecting a different result.”

“You keep trying because you’re a kind and caring person who wants more of a relationship with her mother.”

Maura laughed a short and bitter laugh. “Or I keep trying because I’m a fool.”

Jane tentatively put a hand on Maura’s lower back, unsure what else to say. This was the first time she had experienced Maura being so negative about herself and she wasn’t sure what the best course of action was. So she simply rubbed her hand against Maura’s lower back until Maura eventually seemed to relax some and leaned towards Jane, closing her eyes resting her head against Jane’s shoulder.

“Can I ask you something?” Jane finally said.

“Mmm hmm,” Maura answered.

“Are you going to tell your mother what you learned about your biological father?”

Maura sat back straight up and opened her eyes. She turned on the bed so she sitting cross legged and facing Jane before answering simply, “No.”

Jane moved into a more reclining position on her side on the bed so she could face Maura and rubbed her fingers against Maura’s knee. “Aren’t you curious about what she knows?”

“Yes, but I can’t talk about that with her. When I was in college I tried to find out information about my biological parents. That’s when I found out my adoption was private and the records are sealed. I never told my mother or father I was looking and I’m not planning on telling them or asking them.”

“Don’t you think they would understand you wanting to know about your background?”

“In all likelihood, yes, they would probably be understanding, but that isn’t the sort of thing we ever talk about. And…I’m not sure if I want to know what they know. I don’t know if it would be better to find out that they knew that my father was a violent criminal and then wonder about how that affected how they see me and raised me, or for them to find out now and worry about how that would change things now.” 

“What if they could tell you who your biological mother is?”

Maura shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know if it’s worth finding out. Can we stop talking about this now?”

“Yes. What would you like to do now?” Jane asked.

“Get into bed with you.”

“Even though it’s a school night?” Jane joked.

“Yes, even though it’s a school night.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


“So, am I going to have any idea what I’m looking at tonight?” Jane asked as they sat in the cab on their way to the Institute for Contemporary Art on the Boston waterfront on Saturday night.

Maura answered by saying, “My mother’s work is very conceptual.”

Maura’s response didn’t do anything to help Jane’s confidence. “So, no? Does she do those paintings that are just one color painted over the entire canvas?”

“No. She tends to make sculptures, not paintings. Some art is meant to be left to the interpretation of the person viewing the art. It’s about how it makes you feel,” Maura suggested, less than helpfully in Jane’s opinion.

“Great. Well, I feel that if something looks like I could have done it myself, it shouldn’t be in a museum.”

Maura laughed and reached over to take Jane’s hand. “Don’t be nervous. Besides, I think people are going to be far more interested in looking at you than the art.”

Jane rolled her eyes but she couldn’t prevent the blush that covered her cheeks. “Yeah, right,” she said, tugging down the hem of the black dress Maura had suggested she wear tonight. 

“I’m being serious. You look stunning.”

“No, you look stunning,” Jane said looking at Maura who was wearing a gorgeous gold dress with her hair pulled back into a bun. “Are you sure we won’t be overdressed?”

“It’s a special opening night and reception for the artists and big donors. Everyone will be dressed up and most of the attendees will probably be paying as much attention to each other as the art.”

“Great,” Jane said again with obvious sarcasm. “Well, I apologize in advance if I embarrass you.”

“You aren’t going to embarrass me. Just be yourself. There’s no reason to be nervous.”

The cab dropped them off at the ICA and at the door Maura handed over the invitation her mother had given her. 

“Do you want to look for your mother?” Jane asked when they stepped inside.

Maura took Jane’s hand and led her through the crowd that was congregating in the front hall where there was a bar set up for the evening. “Let’s look through the exhibits and we’ll find her eventually.”

They spent about fifteen minutes walking through the exhibit halls and looking at other pieces until they found Constance. Her piece in the show was a giant hanging sculpture made out of plastic water bottles.

“Hello, darling,” she said to Maura and kissed her on both cheeks. “I’m so glad you could make it. You too, Jane,” she said with a nod towards Jane. 

They all turned back to Constance’s sculpture and Maura said, “It’s exquisite.”

“What do you think, Jane?” Constance asked.

“It makes me feel very guilty. I’ll never buy water again.”

At her mother’s confused look, Maura said a little awkwardly, “She’s joking. Jane likes to joke.”

“Oh,” Constance said, laughing uncomfortably. “Of course. Maura, darling, would you mind getting us something to drink? I would love a glass of white wine.”

“Sure. Do you want anything Jane?”

“I’m fine, thank you.”

Once Maura had walked away, Constance said to Jane, “I was hoping to have a moment alone with you, Jane. What exactly are your intentions with my daughter?”

“Excuse me?” Jane said, thinking that now it must Constance who was joking.

Constance continued seriously, “I understand that you have a lot of fun with William. I’ve heard a lot about sporting events and other such activities, but Maura doesn’t need a playmate. She is an exceptional woman, but she has spend a decade putting her son’s needs before her own. I don’t want to see her wasting time with someone she has no future with if you aren’t serious about her.”

“Maura is exceptional,” Jane agreed. “She’s brilliant and beautiful and a great mother. And I think she’s capable of making her own decisions about who she wants to spend her time with.”

“You didn’t answer my question, Detective.”

“My intention is to stick around for as long as Maura wants me around,” Jane responded.

Constance frowned. “I have to admit I was hoping for a more serious answer. I hope Maura doesn’t have the wrong impression about you. She’s always been a little naive and too trusting when it comes to relationships. When she was little, she was shy and sometimes she isolated herself-”

Jane couldn’t stop herself from interjecting with, “Is that why you sent her off on her own to boarding school when she was ten?”

“She wanted to go to that school and I thought…I hoped…that it would be good for her. I thought it would help her make friends, but I think the other children were intimidated by her. I know she was lonely and that made her vulnerable to anyone who wanted to take advantage of her trusting nature.”

Although Jane could tell that Constance’s concern was genuine, Jane she couldn’t help feeling annoyed. Maura had told her enough about her childhood to know that Constance hadn’t shown the same concern then that she was now. “If you knew she was lonely, why didn’t you do anything about it then?”

Constance looked down and for a moment Jane was afraid she was going to cry, but she composed herself and said, “I didn’t know how. I didn’t know how to be the mother I wanted to be. I tried to make sure she had access to the best of everything but I didn’t know how to help her in other ways.”

Jane grimaced in frustration. “I don’t understand why you’re telling me all of this.”

“Because I think Maura cares about you a great deal and I don’t want her to be hurt.”

Jane sighed. “The thing is, the person you are describing is not the Maura I know. Yeah, she’s kinda quirky and she’s smarter than anyone I’ve ever met, but I like those things about her. I don’t think she and I have any problem understanding each other. Maybe the problem in the past hasn’t been Maura but other people. And if you don’t want her to be hurt maybe you should focus on yourself?”

“You think I hurt her?” Constance said in surprise.

“Not visiting her before now. Not telling her you were coming. Not staying with her. Yeah, I think you hurt her. I think it would be better if you told her how exceptional you think she is instead of telling me. Or, you know, come visit her and Billy because you want to, not because you can squeeze them into your schedule. She wants to have a meaningful relationship with you and she thinks you don’t want that. You don’t have to do anything special other than give her your time.”

Before Constance could muster a response, Maura returned then with two glasses of wine and handed one to her mother. “Is everything alright?” she asked, eyeing both women who were looking at each warily.

“Of course it is,” Constance said after taking a deep breath. “We were just getting to know each other better.”

Jane smiled and nodded at Maura.

“Shall we walk around a little?” Constance asked Maura. “I want to introduce you to some of the other artists.”

Maura agreed and as they began walking around Jane fell behind them, wanting to give the two of them time together. However, Maura stopped and linked her arm through Jane’s and kept her by her side while they walked around.

They looked at the rest of the exhibit and talked with some of the artists for a while. When someone from the museum came to tell Constance that they wanted her to speak to some of the major donors, she excused herself from them with a promise to call the next day so she could see Maura and Will before returning to New York.

After finishing saying goodbye to her mother, Maura led Jane outside the museum and to the railing along the water so they could look out over Boston Harbor. The airport and East Boston sat across the water from them and to the left lay the Boston waterfront and the Financial District.

“Thank you,” Maura said.

“Why are you thanking me?”

“I know tonight probably wasn’t that much fun for you.”

Jane shook her head. “What are you talking about? It was fine. I’m with you so I’m having a good time.”

After a moment, Maura said, “I think my mother makes me a little crazy.”

“That’s what mothers do.”

“I wish I didn’t let her get to me though.” Finally Maura asked the question she had wanted to ask for the past hour. “What did my mother want to talk to you about?”

Jane chuckled a little before answering. “She wanted to know what my intentions are with you?”

“She didn’t?” Maura said, swatting at Jane’s arm. “Tell me you’re joking.”

Jane shook her head.

“What did you say?”

“Well, since we are grown ass women and this isn’t the 1950s, I didn’t really answer her.” After a moment Jane said, “She was just trying to protect you. It was kind of a weird and awkward conversation, but it was coming from the right place. She’s proud of you. I don’t think she knows how to show you, but I do think she really loves you.”

Maura sighed. “I know she does.”

With a hand to Maura’s hip, Jane turned Maura’s body so they were facing each other. Cupping Maura’s face, she pulled her into a kiss. Ignoring the other people milling around the outside of the museum, she slid her hand around the back of Maura’s head, tangling fingers in hair as the kiss deepened and Maura’s arms slid around her waist.

Jane pulled back and, biting her bottom lip, looking at Maura thoughtfully. Maura brushed her fingers against Jane’s cheek, her thumb running along Jane’s lip, and smiled up at Jane.

Jane smiled back at her and said softly, “I love you.”

Maura’s smile grew bigger as she tilted her head to the side and said, “You do?”

“Yeah,” Jane said, smiling and dropping her gaze for a moment. She looked back up into Maura’s eyes and said, “I do. I love every minute we get to spend together. You’re beautiful inside and out and I love you.” 

Maura didn’t say anything immediately and her eyes filled with tears.

“Oh, shit,” Jane said. “Don’t cry.”

Maura wiped at her eyes and laughing said, “I’m not crying. My amygdala and my lacrimal gland have a connection that I can't really control.”

“Oh, that’s all it is?” Jane said, laughing too. “I still think that counts as crying.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Maura insisted and pulled a tissue out of her purse to finish drying her eyes. Then she took hold of both of Jane’s hands and said, “I love you too, Jane.”


	21. Chapter 21

Maura woke up when she felt the mattress shift and the blankets move. Her first thought was that it was Jane, who Maura had learned was a restless and active sleeper, until she remembered that Jane hadn’t spent last night with her. She rolled over to find Will settling under the covers. 

“Hi, sweetheart,” Maura said. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” he responded.

Since their trip to Vermont, Jane had regularly spent the night. Will seemed to be completely unfazed by it, which wasn’t really surprising given his obvious affection for her, but Maura still wanted to proceed with caution. She had initiated a conversation with Will about privacy, knowing that soon he was going to be reaching an age when he would want his own privacy, and they agreed that a closed bedroom door meant that the other person had to knock before entering. 

Since then she closed her bedroom door when Jane spent the night, and got up early the next morning so she was up before him, and kept the door open other nights. But even before Jane had begun spending the night Will was doing this less and less frequently and it had been at least two months since Maura could remember him visiting her in the morning like this.

She sat up in bed and took the opportunity to wrap her arm around his shoulders and pull him against her. She kissed the top of his head and then rested her chin against it. “There’s a house I want to show you. I think you’ll like it.”

“Today?” he asked. “Jane said we could do batting practice today if she doesn’t have to go to work.”

“Then maybe we’ll go after practice. There’s something I want to talk to you about first though. I’ve been thinking about when we move if I should ask Jane to move in with us.” When he didn’t respond, Maura said, “You don’t have to say yes. You can tell me if you don’t think it’s a good idea. That’s why I’m bringing it up now. It’s always just been the two of us and Jane moving in with us would be a big change. And there’s always the possibility that my relationship with Jane could not work out and she would end up moving out at some point and then you wouldn’t see her as often.”

“Why?” he asked innocently.

Maura sighed and opted for the most basic and honest answer, although to her ears it sounded like she was dodging the question. “Things don’t always turn out the way you think or hope that they will.”

After a moment he said, “I want Jane to move with us.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“I still have to ask her, you know. She might not say yes.”

“You should ask her. I think she’ll say yes,” he said confidently. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jane arrived in the early afternoon, prepared to play baseball with Billy. He was signed up for the local youth baseball league that would start playing in a couple of weeks. Most of the kids he was going to be playing with had already played for a few seasons, starting with tee ball and then moving into live pitching. Billy was behind on the live pitching so he and Jane planned some practice sessions before his team’s official practice started.

The previous weekend the three of them had gone to a sporting goods store to get Billy a bat. Jane had called a coach from the youth baseball league to ask about appropriate bat sizes, a detail Maura hadn’t even considered. It hadn’t occurred to her that there would be different lengths and weights and not just kids and adults bats, although in retrospect that seemed obvious. 

With the guidance from the coach they went to the store and Billy tried out different bats, taking swings in the aisles until he found the ones he liked. Jane insisted on getting him an aluminum and a maple wood bat, explaining that while professional baseball players used wood bats, most youth and amateur players use aluminum because balls hit off of aluminum bats travel faster and farther. But she said everyone wants to pretend to be a major league player and play with a wooden bat sometimes.

This afternoon, Jane drove them to the park where Billy would play his games and where there were four little league size baseball diamonds arranged in a square. When they arrived she pulled a bucked filled with baseballs out of the trunk.

“Where did that come from?” Maura asked.

“Ma’s house,” Jane answered. “Pop used to pitch to us like this too. We accumulated these balls over the years.”

“Why do we need so many?” 

Jane laughed and said, “You’ll see. I brought you something too,” Jane said, reaching into the trunk and pulling out another item to give to Maura. “This is for you. I got you a glove and I, uh, worked on breaking it in a little. I would have given you an old glove of mine, but I’m a lefty so that wouldn’t have worked for you.”

“What exactly did breaking it in entail?” Maura asked suspiciously.

“Well, I had to do the quick version, so a little water, a rubber band, a short spin in the dryer.”

Maura put the glove on her left hand. “Thank you. That’s very sweet of you. Don’t expect me to know what I’m doing though.”

“Well, I am going to need your help fielding today,” Jane said with a wink and then appraised Maura’s outfit, now including the glove. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she wore running shorts and one of Jane’s gray BPD t-shirts that she usually wore to bed and must have left in Maura’s bedroom. “That’s a good look for you,” Jane said.

“You think so?” Maura said coyly.

“Yeah, you look good. Especially in my shirt.”

Maura grinned at her but then Billy called for them to hurry up. They headed to the field and Jane said to Billy, “Alright, let’s see that swing.” He took a few practice swings and Jane said, “That looks good. Are you ready?”

He put on the helmet they had also picked up at the sporting goods store and said, “Ready.”

“Maura, are you ready to be my defense?” Jane asked as she brought the the bucket of baseballs to the pitcher’s mound.

“Where should I go?” she asked.

“Anywhere behind me you want to go. I really just need you to collect the balls he hits, and the farther you let them travel the better,” she said just loud enough for Maura to hear as she walked by her. 

“Right. Got it.” Maura nodded and walked out to what would be roughly the shortstop position and Jane gave her a thumbs up.

Jane pitched to Billy, offering occasional tips, but mostly just saying good job when he made contact, which he did more frequently the longer they practiced. Maura gathered baseballs he put into play and returned them to Jane. And now she understood why they needed the large bucket of balls. Half of the balls ended up behind Billy when he swung and missed. Without another person behind the plate to field balls, they would have had to continually stop to collect balls if they didn’t have the bucket full of them.

After a while, once Billy looked like he was getting a little tired of swinging the bat, Jane said, “What do you think, should we have your mom take some swings too?”

“Yeah,” he said enthusiastically. “Come on, Mom.”

“Yeah, come on Mom,” Jane said with a grin.

Maura gave Jane a look as she walked past her towards the batter’s box, but she took the bat from her son and he grabbed his glove and ran out behind Jane. 

“Let’s see your batting stance.” Jane said to Maura.

Maura stiffly held the bat perpendicular to the ground and moved into a partially squatting position to await Jane’s pitch. When Jane looked at her skeptically, Maura said, “This is the optimum batting stance. It’s rigid body collision theory.”

“Okay,” Jane said with a shrug. “Ready Billy?” she called over her shoulder.

“Yup.”

Jane threw about a dozen pitches to Maura, who swung and missed at each one. “Can I give you a few tips?” Jane asked.

“Okay.”

Jane dropped her glove on the pitcher’s mound and walked up to Maura. “Baseball isn’t about science, it’s about feeling. There’s no equation that can tell you the best stance for hitting a baseball. You have to relax and get comfortable. Haven’t you noticed that all the baseball players have different stances?” When Maura nodded, Jane continued, “That’s because they’re doing what works best for them. So relax your arms and your wrists, loosen your grip on the bat, and get into the position that feels comfortable to you.”

Maura rolled her shoulders and positioned herself into a new batting stance, with her arms pulled back farther and the bat held at an angle and her back and knees in a more relaxed position, and took a few practice swings.

“Much better,” Jane said. She then moved behind Maura and put her hands on her hips. “Now you just have to get your whole body involved. You’re just swinging with your arms now. You want to step into the swing with your left leg and move your hips while you swing through the ball. Go ahead and try it.”

Maura practiced her swing again, following all of Jane’s instructions this time while Jane’s hands helped direct the movement of her hips. 

“There you go.”

Maura smiled at Jane over her shoulder and said softly, “As much as I like this position, I think I’m ready to try again.”

Jane went to back to the mound and on her third pitch, Maura made contact, hitting a grounder towards third base. Billy tracked down the ball and threw it back to Jane, yelling, “Nice, Mom,” as he did.

Jane smiled at him and then at Maura, who said, “Come on, Jane, give me a fast one.”

Jane laughed and threw a faster pitch which Maura again connected with and hit to right field. 

Looking very pleased with herself, Maura said, “I think I’m good for today and you must be tired of throwing.”

“I’m fine,” Jane responded. “But we probably had enough practice for today. What’s next on the agenda.”

Maura smiled excitedly and said, “Let’s go look at a house.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


Over the past couple of months Maura had looked at a number of homes, mostly in Boston, Cambridge, Brookline and Newton. After seeing a number of different neighborhoods, she kept coming back to Beacon Hill. The history there, the architecture, and the location close to the Common, the Charles, and downtown Boston, all enticed her.

The previous weekend a three story brick row house came on the market. Maura had already visited twice with just her real estate agent and everything about the property was perfect. But she wanted Will and Jane’s opinion before making an offer.

The first floor had an open floor plan with a large kitchen, dining area, and living room area with a fireplace. There were high ceilings and while it maintained a lot of the original architecture, everything had been updated with a modern and simple feel. A half-bath and pantry sat off the kitchen while French doors opened from the dining area out onto a brick patio and a small yard lined with flower beds. 

The second floor had a full bathroom and three moderately sized rooms. One would be Will’s room, one Maura planned to set up as a guest bedroom, and the third would be for Will to do whatever he wanted with unless at some point they needed another bedroom. The top floor was the master bedroom suite with a large bathroom, a walk-in closet, and a small extra room that the current owner was using as a home office.

The three of them walked through the whole house together. Will was excited about the prospect of essentially having a whole floor to himself. After looking around the top floor, he asked if he could go back to the second floor to think about which room he wanted. Once she was alone with Jane, Maura asked, “What do you think of this house?”

“It’s very nice,” Jane answered. She could tell from Maura’s excited energy that this house was special to her. “This is the one, huh? You decided on Beacon Hill?”

Maura smiled. “Yes. This house has everything I want and doesn’t need any major work or even major redecorating. This neighborhood feels like the right place for me. There’s a lot of history here and we can walk to shops and restaurants and to the Common. It reminds me just a little of Europe too. I’m going to make an offer this week and if everything goes well, we should be able to move once Will’s school year is over.” 

“What are you going to do with that room?” Jane asked, pointing to the small room off the master bedroom.

“I was thinking of turning it into a yoga room,” Maura answered.

Jane laughed. “Really?”

“Yes. Unless you had any ideas.”’

“Me?”

“Yes, you. I want your input.” Maura took a deep breath and said, “I want to ask you something too.”

“What is it?” Jane asked.

“What do you think about…living…here…with us?”

Jane opened her mouth to speak but then paused a moment before saying, “Is it too soon to make that…um…commitment?”

“I’ve thought about this a lot,” Maura answered. “If we were twenty-five and just starting our careers and at a different stage in our lives, yes, it would probably be too soon. And if you didn’t already have such a strong bond with Will, I would definitely say that it was too soon. But I love you and Will adores you. And I…I haven’t felt the way I feel about you…I’ve never felt the connection I feel with you with anyone.” When Jane didn’t say anything immediately, Maura added nervously, “This afternoon was so nice, just the three of us spending time together. I want every day to be like that. How different would it really be from what we’re doing now?”

“It could be a lot different,” was Jane’s only response. “Did you ask Billy about this?”

“Yes. Of course I did. He wants you to live with us too.”

“I…um…” Jane paused. She wasn’t sure how to say what she was feeling so she deflected, saying, “I can’t afford this place.”

“I can,” Maura responded simply. “I want you to live with us, Jane. I don’t want your money. I want you in my life, in our lives.” When Jane was silent again, Maura asked gently, “What are you thinking?”

Jane sighed heavily and rubbed her hands over her face.

“Please talk to me,” Maura said shakily.

Jane looked up at the ceiling, willing herself to say something without dissolving into tears. “If this doesn’t work out…if we move in together and it doesn’t work out…I’ll lose everything good that’s happened to me since…since this,” Jane said, holding up her hands. “You’ll have Billy and the two of you will move on with your lives and I’ll have nothing.”

Maura was surprised by Jane’s response. “Jane, you have so much more than just me in your life. Your family, your job, your partners.”

Jane shook her head and said bluntly, “It’s not the same as what I have with you. It’s just not the same. You’re the most important thing in my life.” Jane sighed again. “Look, I think I’m just surprised. I didn’t know this discussion was going to happen already and I don’t want rush into something before we’re ready.”

“We already spend most free evenings and weekends together and you spend the night with us a lot now. Other nights you’re just upstairs. I didn’t realize that you would think it was such a big change,” Maura explained.

Jane softened and moved to Maura, putting her hands around Maura’s waist. “Did you think I was just going to say yes immediately?”

“Yes, I suppose I did.”

“Does that mean you guessed, Dr. Isles?” Jane teased, trying to lighten the mood.

But Maura didn’t laugh. Instead she looked down to hide the tears forming in her eyes. “Now you know why I don’t like to guess.”

“Hey, I love you,” Jane said, taking hold of Maura’s hands and squeezing before repeating, “I love you. Which is why I don’t want to mess this up.”

Maura was biting her bottom lip, trying to keep from crying, while listening to Jane.

“I’m not saying no,” Jane said.

“But you’re not saying yes,” Maura said softly.

“Not yet. I’m not saying yes yet. I just need some more time.”

“Are you sure that’s what’s going on? If you have doubts about me or our relationship, I want you to tell me.”

“I don’t have any doubts about you. I have doubts about me. I can’t just move in with you and Billy unless I’m sure I can make a commitment to both of you for the long term. It wouldn’t be fair to you or especially to him, if I didn’t take this step seriously.”

Maura smiled, keeping her tears at bay, and pulled Jane towards her and into a soft  and sweet kiss. “I don’t have any doubts about you, but you can take all the time you need to decide. I want you here, Will and I both want you here. That’s not going to change. I can wait until you’re ready.”


	22. Chapter 22

Two weeks had passed and the two women hadn’t discussed living arrangements again. Maura told Jane she could take all the time she needed and she told herself that she would let Jane figure it out on her own and not pressure her for an answer. But that meant that she was left with only her own thoughts until Jane was ready to talk. ****

Maura decided not to make an offer on the house yet. In hindsight, she realized that she had done everything in the wrong order. She should have talked to Jane earlier and they should have gone through the whole process of finding a house together. She shouldn’t have sprung the question on Jane the way she did. 

Jane hadn’t said a word to her about moving, but had otherwise acted as if everything was normal between them. Maura, despite Jane’s assurances, worried that Jane’s hesitation was because she wasn’t sure about their relationship. But when Will spent the night at a friend’s house the previous weekend, they went out for dinner and then back to Jane’s apartment to watch a movie. Barely twenty minutes into it the movie was forgotten and they were both naked on Jane’s couch. 

When they spent the night together in Maura’s apartment there was always the need to be quiet. It was soft caresses and a slow buildup to a quiet climax. That night there was an urgency and it was simply about raw desire. Maura wasn’t sure if Jane wanted it like that too or if she was just really good at reading what Maura wanted and needed, but either way, for Maura it was proof of the connection they shared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been two long weeks for Jane. A double murder occupied most of her time as she and Korsak and Frost tried unsuccessfully to find anyone with helpful information willing to talk to them. In her free moments, when she wasn’t with Maura, she thought about Maura’s question without getting any closer to figuring out what to do about it.

It wasn’t that Jane hadn’t thought about her future with Maura. She had thought about all of it: living together, getting married, maybe even having another kid. But she wasn’t prepared for the conversation to happen so soon and, honestly, so casually. The way Maura had asked her about moving felt like Maura was moving ahead with her life and if Jane wanted to tag along that was fine, but it wasn’t going to change Maura’s plans either way. It wasn’t the serious conversation and consideration Jane had thought would happen when they discussed the future of their relationship.

After a long day on Friday, Jane crashed at her own apartment and was up early the next morning despite it being her day off. She decided to go for a run and then visit her mother. She drove out to Revere Beach and ran on the beach in the wet sand while trying to clear her mind and just focus on Maura and what she wanted to do. She was no closer to figuring it out after a five mile run up and down the beach.

Jane went to her mother’s house, knowing that she should find her alone this morning. Tommy was still living at the house but he had been accepted into the Plumbers’ Local’s apprenticeship program and he had class on Saturday mornings. It wasn’t often that Jane asked her mother for advice, but the reality was that she didn’t have anyone else to talk to about this. 

Jane entered the house and called out to her mother before finding her having a cup of coffee with the newspaper in the kitchen. Jane gave her a kiss on the cheek before pouring her own cup of coffee and sitting down at the table. 

“How’s Pop doing?” Jane asked, knowing that Angela had gone with him to a doctor’s appointment since the last time they talked a few days ago.

“You could ask him that yourself, you know,” Angela responded.

Jane shrugged.

Angela gave Jane a look, but said, “He’s fine. He completed his treatment and everything went the way it was supposed to. But I’m not his secretary or his spokesperson. You can reach out to him if you want to know anything more.”

Jane was quiet for a moment, focusing on her cup of coffee. “Did you have any idea that he…” she started to ask but trailed off with a grimace, unsure how to phrase her question.

Angela tried completing the question for her. “That he what? Was unhappy? Was going to leave me? That he was having an affair with a woman who could have been his daughter?”

“Was he unhappy?” Jane asked.

“I honestly don’t know. I don’t know if he was unhappy or if he just wanted a change. Or if he changed and wanted something different in life. He didn’t tell me anything, he just left. Why are you asking me these questions?” she asked suspiciously.

“Maura asked me to move in with her. I haven’t given her an answer. I told her I needed time to think about it. That was a couple of weeks ago and we haven’t talked about it since.”

Angela narrowed her eyes at Jane. “What does that have to do with your father?”

“I don’t understand how you can be with someone—love someone—for so long and then just walk away one day.”

“You’re not your father, Janie. You’re not going to do that.”

“You can’t know that for sure. Besides, maybe I’m not worried about me,” Jane said with a shrug.

Angela gave Jane a long look before saying, “Maura strikes me as the type of woman who knows what she wants and when she knows what she wants she’s not afraid to go after it. If I had to guess, I would say that it was Maura who finally pushed the two of you into a relationship.”

Jane rolled her eyes but admitted, “It was.”

“The two of you aren’t getting any younger and Maura has a child. She’s going to want a certain level of stability and I doubt she’s making any decisions without thinking them through. If she believes your relationship is strong enough now to take the next step, maybe you should trust her.”

“I don’t know if you’re right about what she wants,” Jane said. “She’s going to move whether I’m coming or not. She’s been planning on it for months and only just asked me about moving in with her. I don’t know what that means for our future. What if in the future she decides to take another job somewhere else? Is she going to go whether or not I agree to go with her? I keep thinking about things like that. I don’t think I understand how I fit into her life.”

“You should ask her then. Or, better yet, tell her how you want to fit into her life.” Angela stood up and said, “Come upstairs with me. There’s something I want to give you.”

Jane followed her mother to her parents’ bedroom—her mother’s bedroom now, Jane mentally corrected herself—where Angela went to her jewelry box and pulled out a small pouch and handed it to Jane, who had taken a seat, cross-legged, on the bed.

Jane opened the pouch and pulled out a ring which she turned over in her hand. The ring was a gold band with a deep green square emerald. “I remember you wearing this,” Jane said.

“I haven’t worn it for years. Your Nonna Rizzoli gave it to me when I married Frank. It was a welcome to the family gift. When Frankie was born I thought it would go to his wife someday, but later I decided it should really go to the first girl one of you brought into the family. Lord knows when either Frankie or Tommy will get their act together and settle down. I think the ring would look lovely on Maura.”

“Maura and I have been dating less than six months, Ma.”

“So? I was dating Frank for four months when he proposed. And before you say anything, we were married for almost forty years. It wasn’t always perfect but we had a lot of good times and we loved each other. You could do a lot worse than that. You’d be lucky to stay with Maura for as long as your father and I were together. You’d be almost eighty by then.”

Jane looked back at the ring in her hand. “It’s a beautiful ring. This is the same color as Maura’s eyes.”

“I thought her eyes were brown.”

“They’re hazel technically. I don’t know how it works, but sometimes they look green, just like this.”

“Well, see, the ring is perfect for her then.” 

“Thanks, Ma. I’m not making any promises, but thanks,” Jane said, slipping the ring back into its pouch.

“Come on, let’s go eat. I’ll make you pancakes. I know they’re your favorite.”

Before they got downstairs, Jane’s phone rang and, seeing that it was Maura calling, she answered, saying, “Hey.”

“Hi. Are you at work?” Maura asked. 

“No, I’m out at my mother’s house. What are you up to?”

“Will and I were just going to go out for brunch. I was going to see if you wanted to join us.”

“Oh, um…Ma is making pancakes here.” Jane looked at her mother who was nodding vigorously. “Do you want to come out here and have brunch with us?”

“Yes,” Maura answered quickly. 

“Yeah? Great. Do you need directions?”

“I think I know how to get there but text me the address and I’ll put it in the GPS,” Maura said.

“Okay. We haven’t started yet so we’ll wait for you to get here.”

“See you soon,” Maura said and ended the call. 

Jane hung up, quickly texted Maura, and said to her mother, “They’re coming. Do you mind if I shower and change before they get here? I’ve got a change of clothes in my car.”

“Go ahead. I’ll get started on the food.”

“Thanks, Ma. For everything,” Jane said sincerely.

“You’re welcome, honey. And don’t be afraid to take a risk with Maura,” Angela added before heading to the kitchen to make the pancake batter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


“Is this pancake in the shape of a bunny?” Maura said in amusement when Jane set plates in front of her and Billy.

Jane grinned. “They’re one of Ma’s specialties.”

Billy frowned at the bunny pancake and said, “Can you make a dinosaur?”

“Will,” Maura said sternly.

“It’s okay,” Angela said. “That’s what the boys always wanted. But you’re going to have to use your imagination because bunnies are all I can do,” she said, slipping another pancake from the pan onto his plate.

“Will, what do you say?” Maura prodded.

“Thanks, Mrs. Rizzoli.”

 The four of them ate and talked with Angela grilling Billy about all sorts of things. Angela was born to be a grandmother, Jane mused. She was a good mother, of course, if also overbearing and annoying a lot of the time. She had been pestering Jane about giving her grandchildren since Jane was in her mid-twenties. Jane was always open to the idea of having kids, but never explicitly planned on it, and she always assumed Frankie and Tommy would fulfill their mother’s need for grandkids to fuss over. 

When they were done cleaning up after eating Angela said, “I think I should take Billy out to the garage and show him some of old stuff you kids left here. There may be some sporting equipment or something like that he may want. I’m certainly not using it. What do you think, Billy?”

He shrugged and said, “Alright.”

Angela ushered him out of the kitchen and gave Jane a meaningful look. Jane rolled her eyes at her mother, earning a sterner look in return.

“Wanna go sit outside?” Jane asked Maura once Angela and Billy were gone. “It’s a nice day out.”

“Sure,” Maura agreed.

Jane led them out the back door and they sat down next to each other on the porch swing that hung on the back porch. “We should talk, I guess,” Jane said.

“Can I say something first?” Maura asked.

“Of course.”

Maura looked down at her hands clasped in her lap and said, “For a long time I thought that I may never find someone to spend my life with. Not that I wasn’t looking or open to the possibility, but there was never anyone who I could see a future with. But even before we went on our first official date, I knew that you were that person for me. In addition to all of the wonderful things about you, everything is so easy with you and it feels so natural to be with you. Moving in together just seems like the next logical step, but I understand if you think it’s too soon.”

Jane turned towards Maura, laying her arm on the back of the swing behind Maura’s shoulders. “I’m not the type of person to move in with someone just to see how it goes. I take that step very seriously. If I move in with you it’s because I’m planning on being with you forever. I need to know you feel the same way. I don’t want to move in just because it would be easy and convenient.”

Maura looked up into Jane’s eyes. “Of course I’m not asking just because it would be convenient. I love you. I want to be with you.”

Jane sighed and chuckled softly. She ran her hand through Maura’s hair at the back of her neck and brushed it to the side so she could skim her fingers against Maura’s neck. “Remember when you were the one who wanted to be cautious and were concerned about moving to fast and I was the one saying we shouldn’t take the safe route?”

“Yes. And I decided you were worth the risk.”

“Good point.” Jane sighed again. “What if I said I don’t like that house?”

“You don’t like the house?”

“Hypothetically.”

“We’ll find another house. One we both like. I should have involved you from the beginning,” Maura said, shaking her head. “I’ll call my agent right now and schedule more showings and you can tell her what-“

Jane interrupted her, saying, “I like the house.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, it’s great. I mean, you’ve seen my apartment, I’m not that particular. But that house is amazing and I like being in the city and close to everything.”

Maura rested a hand on Jane’s knee and said, “I’m sorry for not involving you earlier. I’m used to doing things alone. I had to do everything on my own for a long time, most of my life. I need to work on changing that.”

“Another reason not to rush into this,” Jane said softly.

After a few moments of silence, Maura said, “Will asks me every day if you’ve made a decision.”

Jane frowned, furrowing her brow. “We haven’t had any discussion about exactly what role you want me to have in his life. Right now he and I are buddies. I don’t know how that will change if we’re all living together.”

“I don’t know either. But I’m not sure we can plan that out ahead of time. You just have to keep being you and taking care of him and loving him. You don’t have to do anything other than what you already are doing.”

Jane only nodded in response. She put her hand on Maura’s cheek and gently turned Maura’s face towards her and leaned in for a kiss. Maura’s hand went to Jane’s neck and she leaned into her as the kiss deepened and their tongues slid against each other.

Only the sound of someone clearing their throat broke them apart, with each of them trying to move back to their original spot on the bench and compose themselves. 

“Sorry to interrupt, but Billy and I are done looking through the garage,” Angela said, a playful smile on her lips. “Have you two come to any conclusions?”

Maura and Jane spoke at the same time, with Maura saying, “No,” and Jane saying, “Yes.”

Maura looked at Jane in surprise. “Yes?”

“Yes,” Jane said, turning from her mother to Maura. “We’re moving in together.”

“Are you sure?” Maura asked softly.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Jane said to her. “You’re worth it.”


	23. Chapter 23

 

Maura’s phone rang a few minutes after she arrived home with Will after picking him up from his after school program. Maura was technically off for the evening, but it wasn’t unusual for her phone to ring with results from the lab or questions from detectives or the district attorney’s office about evidence. 

But she was immediately on alert when Detective Korsak’s name showed on her caller ID. Jane and Korsak left the station a few hours earlier to bring in a suspect in a recent case and Jane had told her that she expected they would be working late into the evening. She wasn’t sure why Korsak would call her instead of Jane if they needed anything from her.

“Dr. Isles,” she answered the phone.

“Hi Doc,” he said at the other end of the phone, and she thought she detected a nervousness in his voice.

“Detective Korsak, is there something I can help you with?”

“Um, it’s Jane. She’s fine, uh, mostly, but she had an incident with a suspect.”

“What’s going on, Vince?”

“We’re in the emergency room. It’s probably just a broken arm, but she’s being looked at and getting x-rays now.”

“Which hospital?”

“Brigham.”

“Okay, I’m on my way,” Maura said quickly.

“I don’t think you really need to come down here. I’m sure they’ll patch her up and send her home,” he tried to say convincingly, knowing that Jane was going to mad at him for informing Maura.

“I’m coming down there. Don’t let her leave as medical advice or anything before I get there. Thanks for calling and letting me know.” Maura hung up before Korsak could say anything else. Then she realized that she didn’t have anyone to watch Will if she went to the hospital so she made a quick decision. “Will,” she called out, “put your shoes back on. We need to go out.”

He came out of his room and said, “Where are we going?”

Maura hesitated, realizing again that she hadn’t fully thought this plan through. “We’re going to see Jane. It sounds like she may have broken her arm and she is getting checked out at the hospital,” she said as calmly as possible.

Wide-eyed, he said, “Is she going to be okay?”

“It sounds like just a broken arm so she may be in some pain but the doctors will take good care of her. I think we should go check on her and see if she needs anything.”

“What about dinner?” he asked.

“Oh…shoot. Okay, we’ll pick up some food on the way to the hospital. That way we can bring dinner to Jane too.”

“Jane likes pizza.”

“Yes…she does. I suppose we might as well get a pizza then. Okay, grab a book or something in case we have to wait a while and then let’s go.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Jane, are you okay?” Maura said as she rushed into the room in which Jane was situated in the emergency department.

Jane was sitting in a hospital bed with her left arm in a splint and sling to keep the arm still until the cast was put on. She sat up when Maura came into the room and said, “What are you doing here? How did you even know I was here? How did you even get back here?”

“Detective Korsak called me. And I just had to tell them at check-in that we were here to see you.”

“Ugh,” Jane groaned. “I told him not to call you. You really didn’t need to come down. I’m just waiting to get the cast put on. Wait, who’s we? Where’s Billy?”

“He’s in the waiting room with Vince.” Maura’s mouth turned up into a smile. “We brought a pizza for you. It was Will’s idea. But they wouldn’t let us back here with it.”

Jane laughed.

“I told them to save you a piece, though.”

“I don’t really want him to see me in the hospital like this anyway. You either. With this stupid gown and everything, it looks worse than it is.”

“I am a doctor, you know. It’s been a while since I had a live patient, but I do know quite a bit about medicine. However, I may not have thought through coming down here with him well enough, but I didn’t have any other option.”

“You didn’t have to come,” Jane countered.

“Tell me what happened.”

“Korsak and I went to the suspect’s house. When he answered the door, he decided to make a run for it by trying to run straight through us. He knocked me down the front steps and I landed on my arm funny. He didn’t get away though. I grabbed his foot and tripped him and Korsak jumped on him and handcuffed him.”

“Did you hit your head?” Maura asked.

“No.”

“Are you sure? Did anyone give you a neurological exam?”

“I’m sure and they did. My whole body has been poked and prodded. Other than the arm, I’m fine.”

“So you don’t need surgery?”

“Nope.”

Maura was in full on doctor mode now and asked, “Do you know what they found on x-ray?”

“Um, fracture in….what’s the outside bone?”

“The ulna.”

“Yeah, the ulna. It’s just a minor fracture. You can ask the doctor if you want, but she was able to set it and they’re gonna put a cast on. I’ll be good as new in a couple of weeks.”

“Did they give you any medication for the pain?”

Jane shook her head. “They tried. I didn’t want any. They gave me ibuprofen for the swelling.”

“What do you mean you didn’t want any? You must be in a lot of pain?”

“Maura, I had more than enough painkillers for my whole lifetime for my hands. I don’t want any more.”

Maura finally relaxed some and sat down on edge of the bed and laced her fingers with Jane’s right hand. 

“You should go home,” Jane said. “Korsak can bring me home. And you don’t need to rush to hospital every time I get hurt.”

“Every time you get hurt? How often does this happen?”

“Oh…I mean…not…very…often.” Changing the subject, Jane said, “Hey, since you’re here, will you help me change back into my clothes. They said I could before the cast gets put on. A nurse was going to come help but no one has showed up yet.”

“Where are your clothes?”

“In that bag over there,” Jane answered, wincing a little as she pointed.

“Are you sure about the painkillers?”

“Positive.” Jane stood up from the bed and started to unhook the sling.

Maura grabbed the bag of clothes and then seeing Jane struggling said, “Stop. Just stand still and let me do that for you.” Maura unhooked and gently pulled off the sling. Then she untied the hospital gown where it was tied at Jane’s neck and waist and pulled that off.

Maura gasped as she saw the large red bruises on Jane’s left shoulder and outer thigh that were already starting to take on a bluish hue. “Oh, Jane. Did these get looked at?”

“Of course they did.”

“You said it was just your arm. I don’t want you to hide injuries from me.”

“I don’t want you to worry about me.”

“Of course I’m going to worry about you. But I’m only going to worry more if I think you’re going to hide things from me.”

Jane turned around so she was face to face with Maura. “Maura, this is my job. I’m careful. I’m as safe as I can be, but things happen. I promise to tell you about injuries if you can promise to not overreact. You can’t rush after me every time there’s a minor injury. And I don’t want you dragging Billy down here either.”

“Okay, but I get to decide what’s serious enough to warrant me checking on you.”

“Fine,” Jane relented.

Maura managed to maneuver Jane’s t-shirt over her arm and then the rest of her upper body and then between the two of them they got her pants on and then her sling back on.

When they were finished, Jane said, “Go home. I’m sure I’ll be done soon and there’s no reason for you to wait.”

“Will you come to my apartment?”

“Absolutely. Save me some pizza.”

Jane was sitting back on the bed and Maura bent down to kiss her. “I love you.”

“I love you too. I’ll see you soon.”

Maura left but about ten minutes later she was back with Billy. Jane sat up in bed and tried to look relaxed as she said. “Hey. I thought you two were heading home.”

“He insisted on seeing you before we left,” Maura said. 

“Are you okay?” Billy asked Jane.

Jane moved to the edge of the bed and said, “Yeah, buddy. I just need to get the cast put on my arm and I’ll be all good. I won’t be able to play baseball for a few weeks though.”

“At least a few weeks,” Maura interjected. “You’ll have the cast and then rehab. You don’t want to damage your arm before it fully heals.” Jane gave her a look and Maura realized that her comments weren’t helping.

“Can I sign your cast?” Billy asked.

“Yeah, of course. You can draw over the whole thing if you want.”

“Will, we should go and let Jane rest,” Maura said.

He walked over to Jane and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. Jane put her right hand against his head and placed a quick kiss to his temple. “I’ll see you at home, okay?” He nodded and she said, “Thanks for coming to check on me.”

“Are you sure you don’t want us to stay? We could play games on my iPad,” Billy said.

“Thanks, but I’m sure they’ll be coming to get me to put the cast on soon. Go home. I’ll be fine. And save me some pizza, okay?”

“Okay,” he agreed and Jane smiled at Maura and gave her wave as she ushered Billy out of the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Okay,” Maura said, dropping a stack of catalogues on the table next to Jane and then taking a seat on the couch next to her.

“What’s all this?” Jane asked.

“It’s time for furniture shopping,” Maura said excitedly. “We need to get some new stuff for the house and with less than a month before we move, we need to start ordering things so we can get them delivered as soon as we move.”

“What do we need?” Jane asking as she grabbed the catalogue at the top of the pile.

“A bed, for one thing”

“We both have beds,” Jane pointed out.

“How old is your mattress?”

“Um…I don’t know.”

“Either one of our bed frames can go in the guest room, or Will’s room if he wants a bigger bed. And you can keep any furniture of yours that you want. But I finally have room for a king size bed and I really want to get one.”

“Okay,” Jane drawled, because she really couldn’t argue with that plan. “What else?”

“I have a few pieces of furniture in storage that I want to keep, a dining table and chairs, for instance. But I was thinking we could get a whole new bedroom set for both of us and maybe some new couches and some other furniture for the living room. I thought we could start with some catalogues so I could get a sense of what style we both like and then we can look at them in person.”

Jane grimaced at idea of spending their afternoon looking through all of these catalogues and then not even being done. “You don’t have to involve me in this, you know. I’ll be fine with whatever you want.”

“Jane, this is going to be our house and I want to do this together. Besides, you can’t play baseball with Will until your arm heals so you’re stuck with me this afternoon.”

A little while ago they had sent Will off with Frankie for the afternoon. “We still could have gone with them,” Jane pointed out.

Maura poked Jane’s side gently and said, “I’m not sure I can trust you to take it easy and we’ll go to his game tomorrow. Plus, Will and Frankie can have a little male bonding time today.”

Jane was surprised by Maura’s comment. It was the first time she had heard her say anything like that. “Is that a real thing? Is that something you worry about?”

Maura shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t generally worry about it. I’ve never felt any reason to worry about it. Will has always been very open with me about everything. But it can’t hurt for him to have a little one-on-one time with Frankie.”

Jane put the furniture catalogue back on top of the pile. “Hey, do you have any pictures of when he was born or when you were pregnant?”

“Yes. Do you want to see them?” Maura asked, a little surprised at Jane’s question.

“Yeah, definitely.”

Maura went to her bedroom and came back with a photo album which she placed in Jane’s lap and then sat down so she could look at the photos over Jane’s shoulder.

Jane grinned as she began flipping through the pages of the album. The first few pages were pictures of a very pregnant Maura. In some she was looking at the camera but others were candid shots, some in black and white. “Who took these photos?”

“My mother. My mother, the artist. She wasn’t ever really fully supportive of my decision to have Will but when my due date approached she decided she should take pictures and this was the result. I think it was like an art project for her.”

“You look gorgeous. Happy and gorgeous.” Jane turned the page and there were pictures of Maura holding Will all wrapped up in blankets with a little hat on his head. Maura was in a hospital gown and looked tired but she was beaming at the camera. “He’s adorable. How did you choose the name William? It sounds very regal. William Isles.”

“I decided to name him after my grandfather, my father’s father,” Maura answered. He died when I was very young, but he was always so kind to me. When we visited him in London, he would take me out and we would walk around together and go out for tea. I wish I could have known him as an adult. He was a very proper British man though. I don’t think he would have liked anyone calling him or anyone else Billy,” she said with a laugh.

Jane laughed too and continued flipping through the pictures. After a moment she said, “If you were going to have a baby now, how would you do it?”

“Why are you asking?” Maura said a little suspiciously.

Jane shrugged a shoulder. “You mentioned thinking about having another kid. I’m curious.”

“I said I had thought about adopting. I think I’m too old to have another baby now.”

“No you’re not. Women our age have babies all the time.”

Maura, biting her bottom lip, considered Jane for a moment. “How would you do it?”

“I can’t really imagine myself pregnant, to be honest. I mean with the job and everything,” Jane said, gesturing to her cast.

“You would be gorgeous if you were pregnant.” Jane made a face and Maura said, “So you don’t want to be pregnant, but you’re thinking about getting me pregnant.”

Jane laughed. “It sounds weird when you put it that way.”

Maura gave in to Jane’s questioning and said, “I suppose I would use a sperm bank. I’m not sure that there would be any other viable option.”

“And what would you look for in a sperm donor?”

Maura grinned slyly. “Tall, handsome, athletic, with Italian heritage.”

“Oh really?” Jane said chuckling. “But what, like a neuroscientist or astronaut or something?”

“No, I don’t think so. I’m highly intelligent.”

“Modest too,” Jane interjected.

Maura gave her a look and continued, “I mean that I don’t need a donor who is just like me. I would want a donor with a different sets of skills. I think I would look for someone outgoing and sociable. Someone who works with people. Maybe a college student or another young person who donated because he needed to make some extra money.”

“It sounds like you’ve thought about this before,” Jane said, a teasing tone in her voice.

“A little,” Maura conceded and then asked, “Should I start thinking about it more seriously?”

Jane took a deep breath. “Maybe we should plan on talking about it again sometime in the not too distant future?”

“That sounds like a good plan,” Maura agreed. “Now, back to furniture?” she said brightly with a hopeful smile.

Jane looked at the stack of furniture catalogues in distaste and then back to Maura and raised an eyebrow and said, “We have the apartment to ourselves for a while longer. Are you sure there isn’t something else we should do with this time?”

“Hmm,” Maura said, pretending to think seriously about it. “I suppose we could figure out something, even with your broken arm.”

“I still have one good arm, plus a mouth and a bunch of other body parts that are in perfectly good working order.”

“Yes you do. Let’s go to the bedroom,” Maura said in her most sultry voice. She stood up and held out a hand to pull Jane up after her. “Of course, in my medical opinion, I should probably be on top this time.”

“I think I can manage that.” 


	24. Chapter 24

After a week and a half of being relegated to desk duty because of her broken arm, Jane had had enough. Enough filling out paperwork and enough fielding phone calls for the rest of the squad while watching her partners come in and go from crime scenes and chasing down leads. Rather than continue to have to watch everyone do all the detective work without her, Jane decided to use some of her considerable built-up vacation time to take time off while her arm healed.

She had plenty to do anyway to prepare to move, especially when everything took her twice as long with the broken arm. She spent her days sorting through her things, packing what she wanted to move and separating out things she would give away or throw out. She was keeping a few pieces of small furniture, but the rest she was giving away since most of it had been acquired from used furniture stores or the streets of Boston and didn’t hold any significance for her. Plus, usually whatever Maura had or planned to purchase was nicer anyway.

Picking out new furniture with Maura had actually been relatively easy. When they finally looked through the catalogues together, Maura pointed out pieces she liked and Jane said yes or no to them. They discovered that their tastes weren’t too different. Jane preferred more simple and classic styles, while Maura liked some modern styles and a wider color palette, but after looking at the catalogues and spending an afternoon in a few stores they were able to agree on a bedroom set and some living room furniture.

Whenever Jane brought up the subject of cost or paying for things as they moved in together, Maura always brushed her off. Even when Jane simply inquired about the cost of the furniture, which she assumed was relatively high given that the catalogues didn’t have prices listed, Maura told her not to worry about it. She had no idea how much money Maura really had, but Jane figured it must be a lot of money if she had so much that she didn’t even have to think or talk about how much things cost.

Not that Jane was by any means poor. Detectives made good money, especially with all the overtime worked in the homicide division. But growing up in a household with three kids and an income dependent on her father’s business meant that money was always a concern and always a factor in her family. To not discuss it all was something Jane wasn’t used to and she was unsure how to handle it going forward. She didn’t want to make a big deal about it, but she also didn’t want to be a freeloader either. 

Taking time off from work meant that Jane was home every night in a row for more than a week with Maura and Billy. It was the first time this had happened for such a long stretch of time. They were getting up together in the morning and Jane made breakfast while Maura showered and dressed. At night they made dinner together and took turns putting Billy to bed before going to bed themselves.

Jane never envisioned this level of domesticity for herself. She rebelled against her mother’s attempts at forcing it on her when she was a teenager. In the past she rarely spent any time hanging out at home, mostly choosing to work extra shifts when she could. After the Hoyt case she locked herself away in her apartment, but not because it gave her any pleasure. This was the first time she really enjoyed just hanging out at home with family.

During this period, which was also the last couple of weeks of Billy’s school year, Jane also started taking him to school each morning and picking him up in the afternoon. It was a much more involved process than she would have imagined. She had to go with Maura to the school administration office and register as someone who was allowed to pick him up from school, which required going into the building and essentially checking him out.

Jane really enjoyed their trips to and from school. At the start of the Red Sox season, Billy got into the habit of getting on his iPad each morning to check the previous day’s score and statistics because most days he went to bed in the middle of the game. Even when the previous day’s game was a day game, he used the time to study the stats of each player.

The very poor start to the season for the Red Sox hadn’t diminished his enthusiasm at all. After he started tracking batting averages and RBIs, Jane taught him about the advanced metrics teams and baseball enthusiasts were now using to compare players. He spent their ride to school telling Jane which player was leading the team in increasingly obscure categories. 

After a couple of days of listening to stats about the current season, Jane decided to start asking him questions about Red Sox history, starting one morning with, “Can you tell me when was Fenway Park built?”

“I don’t know,” he answered.

“What Red Sox player has the best all-time batting average?”

“I don’t know,” he said again.

“How about home runs?” she asked.

“David Ortiz?” he said.

“Good guess. He’s number three on the list now, I believe. Okay, I’ll tell you who has the most home runs, but you have to figure out the other two on your own.”

“Okay,” Billy agreed.

“Ted Williams is the all-time Red Sox home run leader.”

“Who’s that?” he asked.

“You’ll have to find out,” Jane responded as they pulled into the school parking lot.

Once they arrived at school each day, Jane parked the car and walked him inside, which was the school’s protocol until students reached the ninth grade, and they said their goodbyes. She did the same thing to pick him up each day. 

Billy didn’t say anything more about the baseball trivia that afternoon or evening and Jane thought he had forgotten about it. But when they got into the car the next morning, he said, “1912 and Ted Williams.”

“Very good,” Jane said. “How about most strikeouts?”

“Roger Clemens,” he said confidently.

“Oh, so I guess you did some research. I’m going to have to think of some harder questions now. How about the number of World Series wins?”

“I don’t know.”

“Okay, that’s your question for tomorrow morning then. Maybe tomorrow you can try to stump me with a question too.”

He laughed and said, “Yeah, I’m going to find a hard one for you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

During her lunch break one day that week Maura decided to call her mother. There had always been questions about her adoption that lingered in the back of her mind and that she had never had the courage to ask her parents. When Jane brought up having a child, Maura started thinking about those questions again. Although Jane had been talking about having a baby, Maura had always thought adoption would make sense for her.

After getting initial greetings out of the way with her mother, Maura said, “I was hoping I could ask you a question of a personal nature.”

“Go ahead,” Constance agreed.

“How did you decide that adoption was the right decision for you?” Maura asked.

“Oh. Well…” Constance trailed off.

It was unusual for her mother to not have anything to say on a topic, and thinking she may have been disconnected, Maura said, “Mother? Are you still there?”

“Yes, um…why are you asking about that, dear?”

“Well, Jane and I have been discussing having another child and I’m exploring our options.”

“You’re not even living together yet. Isn’t it a bit soon to be talking about children?” Constance responded.

“You know that we’re moving in less than two weeks. Maybe it’s early to talk about children, but we are already talking about it so that’s where we’re at. I thought you’d be pleased. At least this time I’m having a baby with a partner.”

Her mother ignored that comment and instead asked, “Are you planning on having a baby or adopting? Or I suppose Jane could have the baby.”

“I don’t know. That’s why I’m calling you,” Maura said. “I was hoping to get an idea of what the adoption process was like for you and how you made the decision to adopt. I know we’ve never talked about it before and while I’ve been curious, I also thought that it was up to you to tell me what you wanted to tell me about it. But now I have a reason to ask why you decided to adopt.”

After a moment’s pause, Constance said, “You know that it was a private adoption?”

“Yes.”

“Well, there were a few reasons it was done privately and I’m afraid that one of the reasons is going to be upsetting and will be difficult to explain to you.” She took a deep breath and said, “Your father and I were not, at the time anyway, planning on having a child or adopting. But when you were less than day old, you were left in our care by your biological father when he believed your life was in danger.”

“You’re saying that Patrick Doyle simply left me with you?”

“How do you know about Patrick Doyle?” Constance responded, the rising panic in her voice evident to Maura over the phone.

Maura hadn’t thought before blurting that out. She proceeded to explain to her mother how she found out that Paddy Doyle was her biological father and told her about her encounter with him. “So you wanted to keep the details of my adoption from me so that I wouldn’t know I was Patrick Doyle’s daughter?”

“You’re not his daughter, Maura. You’re our daughter. I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want you to think that because we didn’t choose you that we didn’t want you, or that we loved you any less. We loved you from the moment you were put into our care. I think that I didn’t know I wanted a child until you were in my arms.”

“How on earth did you know Paddy Doyle and why would he leave his child with you?”

“I was teaching art classes at that time and he was my student. I think he thought I was far enough removed from his other life that no one would find you with us. All I really knew about him was that he was a young man with some artistic talent. I didn’t know until the day he came to our house with you that his father was a mob leader.”

“What about my biological mother? Did you know her too?” Maura asked.

“I don’t know who she was. The official adoption was arranged through our lawyer and there was no contact between us and your birth parents. And there hasn’t been any contact since.”

Maura was silent for a long time and Constance finally said, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“Not telling you the truth earlier. I’ve never known how to best discuss this with you.”

“I’m not sure there is a best way, but I admit this wasn’t the conversation I expected to have with you this afternoon.” After a moment of silence on both ends of the phone, Maura said, “I have an appointment soon so I should really get going.”

“Of course,” her mother answered. “I’m…I’m glad you called. If you have more questions at any time, please do ask.”

“Thank you, mother. I’ll call again soon.”

“Goodbye darling. Give my love to William.”

“Of course I will. Goodbye,” Maura said and disconnected the call. She took a moment to close her eyes and take a deep breath, while replaying the conversation in her head. There was no way she could have been prepared for the information her mother had just given her and she had no idea what to think about it. She opened her eyes and gathered her purse and phone to head out to her appointment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I feel ridiculous,” Maura said from her position laying on her back on the examination table and staring at the ceiling while the doctor conducted her physical examination.

“I know this isn’t the most graceful position,” Dr. Walcott said from between Maura’s legs where they sat in the stirrups. 

“Oh, I didn’t mean this position. I meant coming to talk to you about this at all,” Maura clarified. Without Jane at work and able to pop in unexpectedly in the morgue or her office at any time of day, Maura took the opportunity to schedule an appointment with a gynecologist. Not that she was really trying to keep it a secret from Jane, but she wanted to get a little bit more information about whether she could even have a child successfully before they had another conversation about it.

“Why is that?” the doctor asked.

“I suppose I feel a little silly and maybe a little selfish thinking about having another child at my age.”

“Do you want to have another child?”

“Maybe,” Maura answered as truthfully as she could.

“Is someone pressuring you to have a baby?” 

“No. Not at all,” Maura answered, shaking her head against the table. “I’m…I’m in the best relationship of my life. We’re about to move in together and the topic of children has come up a few times. If we’re going to have a baby, well, both of us are over thirty-five, so time is a factor.”

Dr. Walcott stood up from between Maura’s legs, pulled off her gloves, and helped Maura up into a sitting position. “Everything looks good on examination. We’ll do a blood test and maybe a follow up blood test in a few weeks depending on what the first one shows. We can also schedule an ultrasound early in your cycle to check your antral follicles. All of that will give us an idea of your fertility. Of course there are things out of your control but from what you’ve told me, you’re doing everything correctly. You don’t smoke, you have a good diet, you exercise regularly. Are you taking a multi-vitamin?”

“No.”

“You can start doing that. And some studies show that even small to moderate amounts of alcohol and caffeine can reduce fertility. Other studies haven’t found any connection between them, but it probably can’t hurt to cut back on both of them. Of course, the older you get the higher the risk for miscarriage or other birth defects. If you successfully get pregnant, we’ll monitor you closely, but you’ll have decide if you’re willing to accept those risks.”

Maura nodded in response. 

“Then once we have this baseline information there are other options to consider as well: fertility treatments, IVF, or using a donor egg are all possibilities. You can have labs drawn today,” the doctor continued. “Would you like to schedule an ultrasound?”

“Yes. I would like to at least have all the information available so I know what my options are.”

“Okay. The front desk will schedule the ultrasound and a follow-up appointment with me and we can go from there.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


Saturday afternoon, Jane and Maura took Billy to his baseball game. Most of the kids had been playing for a few years longer than Billy but that didn’t necessarily make them any better and there was a wide range of skill levels among the kids playing in the league. Billy was still working on hitting, but he was doing pretty well fielding and he had a good throwing arm so his coach was playing him at third base.

He struck out during his first at bat but then he made a nice play on a grounder and a good throw to first which had Maura and Jane standing and cheering for him from where they were sitting with the other parents. There were metal bleachers on the first base side of the field, but they brought folding camp chairs to sit on along the third base side and some of the other parents did the same.

When they sat back down, Jane said, “I feel bad I haven’t been able to work on batting with him since I broke my arm.”

“It’s okay. He understands.”

“I know,” Jane sighed. “But I guess I miss playing with him too.”

“You’ll be able to play again soon,” Maura reassured her.

They turned their attention back to the game because Billy was coming up to bat again. This time he made contact, hitting a grounder to the second baseman who threw him out.

Jane yelled some encouraging words to him and then turned back to Maura and said, “Hey, I…uh…I’m sorry about bringing up the whole baby thing the other day. It wasn’t fair of me to suggest that you should have another baby like that. And I’m so happy with you and Billy. Nothing has to change if you don’t it to.”

Maura hadn’t told Jane about the conversation with her mother, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to, and she hadn’t mentioned the doctor’s visit yet either. She cleared her throat and said, “I went to see a doctor this week.”

“About what? Why didn’t you tell me? I could have come with you,” Jane rattled off in concern.

“There’s nothing to worry about. I just wanted to get some information about whether it’s even a possibility for me to get pregnant.”

“Oh. Really?”

Maura nodded.

Confused, Jane asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I thought I should get some information first. I didn’t want to get your hopes up and then have you be disappointed if it turns out I’m unlikely to be able to get pregnant now.”

“What did you find out?” Jane asked.

Maura shook her head. “Nothing conclusive yet. I haven’t received the blood test results yet and I’m going to have a vaginal ultrasound next week which will provide the most information.”

“So…what does this all mean?” Jane said curiously.

“I think it means that I would like to have another child with you. I’m not sure how yet,” Maura clarified. “But I do want it. I think we have room for one more in our family.”

Jane grinned and leaned across Maura’s chair for a quick kiss and then said seriously, “I love you. But I will not be disappointed if you can’t have a baby. We can adopt, or who knows, maybe I’ll even carry the baby,” Jane said with a pretend dramatic flair.

“You’re ridiculous,” Maura responded. “And I love you too.”


	25. Chapter 25

Maura set a cup of coffee in front of Jane, who was already have way through her bowl of cereal, and said, “Go easy today. Your cast is off but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re fully healed.”

“I know, I know, you told me already about a dozen times,” Jane answered playfully.

“I know, but I can already see you eyeing boxes. I hired a moving company for a reason.”

Today was moving day. The previous day they closed on the house and Maura hired a cleaning company to clean it top to bottom while they packed up both apartments, since Jane insisted they could pack on their own. She had already packed most of her own stuff during her time off from work so she could help Maura and Billy pack their stuff as well. They arranged for the moving company to come today to move the furniture and boxes as well as bring the things Maura had in storage. 

Jane finished her cereal and walked over to Maura and wrapped her hands around her waist. “You look beautiful.”

Maura shook her head. “I’m a mess. I haven’t showered and I’m wearing your clothes,” she responded, gesturing to the t-shirt and shorts she had grabbed from the unpacked pile of Jane’s clothing in her bedroom to wear while finishing packing.

Jane pushed a strand of hair that had fallen out of Maura’s ponytail behind her ear. “I know. I love you like this. I love getting to see you like this.” Jane leaned forward and kissed Maura’s lips. 

Maura leaned into the kiss and returned it in full, but then said, “Are you trying to distract me? I have a lot to do today.”

“I thought that’s what the movers were for,” Jane teased. 

Maura pressed another kiss to Jane’s lips. “They’re at the storage unit now but they’ll be here soon and there are still a few things in the kitchen and bedroom to pack.”

“My apartment is fully packed. How about I take Billy out for a while so we’re out of your way and out of the movers’ way and you don’t have to worry about us interfering for a few hours. Then we’ll come back and he can help you here and I’ll clean up anything in my apartment that needs it.”

“Where are you going to go?” Maura asked.

“We could take the ferry over the Spectacle Island and eat lunch there. We've talked about doing that before. He can swim if he wants to. That will get us out of here for a few hours.”

Maura pouted a little and said, “That sounds fun.”

Jane raised her eyebrows at her. “I can stay if you’d prefer.”

“No, you’re right. Will is going to get bored today if he doesn’t have something to do and his stuff is all packed up. And you will probably just distract me if you’re here. Just promise that all three of us can go on the ferry sometime.”

“Of course. We’ll save the other islands for you.”

Maura smiled at her but then frowned. “His bathing suit is already packed.”

“He’s only got a few boxes of clothing, right?” Jane said with a shrug. “I’ll go see if he wants to go and if he wants to go swimming we’ll find his swimsuit.”

“Try not to make too big of a mess in his room. I’ll pack you lunch and find the sunscreen.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jane and Billy took the T to the Aquarium stop and walked to Long Wharf to take the ferry to Spectacle Island. Jane had a backpack stuffed with a blanket for the beach, extra sunscreen, lunches, and water. Billy had a backpack with a towel and change of clothes for after swimming. They found his swimming trunks, which he was wearing, and Maura had already covered him once with sunscreen and given strict instructions to Jane to reapply after he swam.

The ferry ride took about twenty minutes. Spectacle Island had been used as a landfill in the early 1900s and then was covered with the excavated dirt from the Big Dig and turned into a park. Now the island had a beach, walking trails, and a visitor center that hosted music and other events throughout the summer. 

When they got off the ferry, Jane and Billy decided to first walk to the top of the tallest hill on the island for the full view of Boston Harbor. Then they headed down to the beach where Billy went immediately to the water. Jane laid out the blanket and took off her shoes and socks and waded into the water out up to her knees. 

Another woman with a couple of kids was doing the same thing and Jane nodded and said hello to her. Billy quickly made friends with the other kids and joined in whatever game they were playing.

Confident that Billy was fine playing in the water, Jane went back to the blanket and laid down, using her backpack as a pillow so she could prop her head up to keep an eye on Billy.

After a little while the mother of the kids Billy was playing with walked over and said, “Your son is very nice.”

Jane sat up and said, “Uh, thanks. Technically, he’s my girlfriend’s son, but yeah, he’s a great kid.”

“Oh. It’s nice of you to spend time with him,” the woman said vaguely.

Jane made a face at her somewhat odd statement and replied, “Like I said, he’s a great kid. I enjoy spending time with him.”

Billy came over then and said to Jane, “I’m hungry.”

“Let’s eat then,” Jane said and nodded politely to the woman who went back to her own kids. 

Jane handed him his towel so he could dry off and pulled the small cooler out of her backpack. Maura packed them sandwiches and bananas, pulling together what she could from the limited fresh food they still had in the apartment.

“Did that woman think you were my mom?” Billy asked between bites of his sandwich.

“Yeah, she did.”

Billy laughed and said, “That’s funny.”

“Why is that funny?” Jane asked curiously while trying not to be hurt about Billy laughing at the idea of her being his mother.

“Because you don’t look like my mom at all,” he answered easily.

“Ah, that’s true.”

He shrugged and said, “It’s okay though.”

“What is?”

“If she thinks you’re my mom.”

Jane had to stifle a laugh, but smiling said, “Yeah, it’s totally okay. Speaking of moms though, you need to put on more sunscreen because your mom will not be happy if I let you get a sunburn.”

Jane tossed him the bottle of sunblock from her bag. He put it on where he could reach and Jane helped him with his back and anywhere he missed.

“Do you want to swim some more?” Jane asked when he was done.

He flopped onto his stomach on the blanket and said, “Nah, I’m done.”

Jane put away their lunch remains and then sat cross-legged facing him. “Can we talk about something for a minute?”

He partially rolled over and looked up at her and said, “Yeah.”

“You know that I love your mom, right?” This was a conversation Jane had been thinking about how to have with him for a few weeks, and she wanted to do it before they all moved in together, but it was hard to figure out exactly what to say. She had plenty of opportunities while she was off from work to talk to him without Maura around but hadn’t managed to it yet. This was going to have to be the right time.

He nodded.

“And that means I want to make her happy and I want to take care of her. I’m really happy that we’re all going to be living together and I…I just want to be sure that you know that I love you too. I know I haven’t really said that to you before, but you’re just as important to me as your mom is and I love you and will take care of you too.”

Billy had turned back on his stomach as she talked but he nodded again.

“There’s something I want to talk to you about. It’s kind of a big thing. I…I want to ask your mom to marry me. It’s important to me that you’re okay with it and I want you to ask me questions or talk about whatever you want to with me. I know that a lot is changing right now with us all moving in together and a lot is happening in a short period of time, so it doesn’t have to be today. Whenever you want to talk or when you have questions you can come to me.”

While Jane was talking, Billy started drawing lines with his finger in the sand at the edge of the blanket. He took a moment to think and then asked, “What happens when you get married?”

“I don’t think it would really change anything between us, if that’s what you mean. Marriage is a way for people commit to each other that they will love each other and take care of each other. I want you and your mom to know that I’m going to do everything I can to take care of both of you and make you both happy and I plan on doing that forever. Marriage would help make us officially a family.” 

“Would you be like my mom too?”

“Well, in the sense that I will love you and take care of you, but that’s already true. It wouldn’t have to change things between us. You definitely don’t have to call me ‘Mom’ or anything. And if your mom and I get married, I promise that it won’t change anything between you and her either.”

“Okay,” he said, in the way that he often did that made it impossible to know what he was really thinking. 

But overall, Jane thought the conversation had been reasonably successful. She looked at the time on her phone. “We should probably get the next ferry back to we can help your mom for the rest of the day.”

“Can we get ice cream first?”

Jane raised an eyebrow at him but said, “Yes, we can. Let’s go right now and we should be able to still make the next ferry.”

They packed up their stuff and were able to get ice cream cones from the snack bar next to the visitor center before boarding the ferry back to Long Wharf. They sat on the upper deck of the ferry, facing backwards and watching the view of the harbor and the islands as they sailed back.

After finishing his ice cream cone, Billy said, “When are you going to ask my mom to marry you?”

“I don’t know yet. I haven’t figured out the best way to do it. I want it to be special, you know?”

“She really likes the Science Museum. You could do it there,” he suggested.

Jane smiled at him. “That’s an option to consider. Do you think you can keep it a secret from your mom until I propose? I’d like it to be a surprise.”

He smiled and nodded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the time they arrived back at the apartment building, the movers had cleared out Jane’s apartment and about half of Maura and Billy’s. Maura was calmly supervising and said, “How did it go?” when Jane and Billy walked in. 

“Good,” Jane said. 

“We had ice cream,” Billy responded.

Jane gave Maura a look as if to say it couldn’t be helped, but said to Billy, “Tell her what else we did there?”

“We took a walk and we could see Boston and all of the harbor and the lighthouse. Then I went swimming and played with some other kids. Then we had ice cream.”

“After we ate lunch,” Jane added.

“Sounds great,” Maura said.

“How’s it going here?” Jane asked.

“Good. I should actually go to the new house now. The new bedroom furniture and couches are going to get delivered soon. The movers will be finished soon here too and be on their way.”

“You go. I can clean up everything here when they’re done and then meet you at the house,” Jane suggested.

Billy was wandering around the partially empty apartment, already looking bored. “Will, why don’t you come with me. You can help direct the movers on where to put everything in the new house,” Maura said to him and then to Jane said, “I’ll see you soon at our new home,” Maura said.

“Yes you will.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was an odd sensation to walk into her new home. Jane had lived in her apartment for a long time and before that there were a couple of crappy little apartments and her parents’ home. This was the first place that actually belonged to her and the first time living with someone else since leaving home. Maura insisted that they both be on the deed and own the house together, and while Maura laid out a number of practical and rational reasons for that, Jane only agreed to it after she got Maura to accept her own financial contribution to the purchase of the house.

Jane walked around the first floor, setting the Chinese food she picked up on the way over on the kitchen counter. She could hear Maura and Billy moving around on the second floor. Among the things that struck Jane was that even though this was now her home, it was filled largely with Maura’s things or their recent new purchases. Very little of her stuff had made the move and so far it looked like most of it was still packed.

Jane marveled at Maura’s organization in getting this all arranged and somehow managing to keep Jane out of the way for the day while making it seem like it was Jane’s idea. The dining area had a heavy pine table, one of the ones that looked like salvaged wood and six fabric covered chairs that had come out of storage. In the living room were the two couches they had picked out together and the big flat screen television Maura had in storage was already mounted on the wall.

Jane was about to head upstairs when she noticed a piece of furniture in the corner of the living room and she stopped in her tracks.

Maura came bounding down the stairs then and with a big smile said, “You’re home.”

“I am. Home,” Jane said grinning back at her. But then she turned her attention back to the corner of the room and said, “Um, what’s that?”

“I’m pretty sure you know what a piano is, Jane.”

“But…that is a Steinway and it’s in our house. I know that wasn’t on our shopping list.”

Maura nodded and said casually, “It is a Steinway. Although it’s an upright, it’s not like it’s a grand piano. I think it fits nicely in that corner.”

“But…where did it come from?”

“My parents’ condo in New York.”

“Um…then why is it here?” Jane pressed.

“My parents never use it. In fact neither of them even play. They had it for when they used to host large parties. I thought it would be nice to have it here. Think of it as a house warming gift from them.”

“Jesus Christ. We could have taken the one from Ma’s house if I knew you wanted a piano.”

Maura pouted and said, “I wanted to surprise you.”

Jane softened and gave Maura a small smile. “I’m definitely surprised. Jeez, how did you even manage to get it delivered today with all the other stuff going on?”

Maura gave a small shrug. She rubbed her hand up and down Jane’s arm before linking their hands together. “I’m not pressuring you or even suggesting that you play it. Maybe someday either Will or I will want to learn. Or it will just be a nice piece of furniture that gets covered in old newspapers like it was at my parent’s home.”

Jane pulled her closer and pressed a kiss to her temple. “Thank you for being so incredibly sweet and thoughtful.”

“Do you want to come see the upstairs with me?”

“Are there any more surprises?” Jane asked warily.

“No, that was the only one. But Will is trying to decide how to arrange the furniture in his room though. Maybe you can help with that.”

Maura started to walk towards the stairs but Jane pulled her back and slid her arms around her waist to hold her close. “I can help with that. But later I want a personal tour of our new bedroom.”

Maura answered grinning up at her, “I think that can be arranged.”


	26. Chapter 26

After the move, Jane, Maura, and Will settled into their summer routine. Maura had lined up some different summer day camps for Will for much of the summer. There were baseball and soccer camps along with a computers and technology camp and a nature camp. Between work, Will’s day camps, and weekend baseball games, their schedule was full. Jane was cleared for active duty again and went back to work, but the rhythm they had established before the move continued, and usually the three of them managed to get up and eat breakfast together before heading out for the day.

The woman Maura previously hired to watch Will after school during the school year finished her graduate program and left Boston for a new job. Now that Maura was settled into her position and had a better understanding of the demands of the job on her time, she hoped to be able to rely less on people other than herself and Jane to take care of Will during the school year. During the summer she planned on one of them being able to pick him from camp each day. Angela had assured them that Will could hang out in the cafe with her anytime she had to work late and Jane couldn’t bring him home.

On Saturday afternoons Will had baseball games and afterwards they got into the habit of going to Angela’s house to hang out for a little while and have dinner, sometimes with one or both of Jane’s brothers. A previous weekend, Jane had been digging through stuff in her mother’s garage and realized that there were a few old bikes from when she and her brothers were kids. Billy hadn’t shown much interest in learning to ride a bike before now, but after a couple of weeks of Jane suggesting he give it a try, he decided he wanted to learn.

This afternoon at Angela’s house Jane and Billy dug out the bikes from behind stacks of other old sporting and outdoor equipment Jane and her brothers left there over the years and picked one that seemed the right size. Jane looked it over, checking the brakes and wiping dust off, and they pumped air into the tires and adjusted the seat for his height. If he wanted to keep riding, they would probably have to get him a new bike or get this one a tune-up, but for today Jane figured it would do. 

When Jane was satisfied that the bike wouldn’t malfunction today, they went outside. The backyard wasn’t big enough to have a long enough stretch for Billy to really get going on the bike, so the sidewalk was going to have to do to learn. Maura insisted that before Billy got on a bike he have a full arsenal of protective gear, so now he was wearing a helmet plus elbow guards, knee pads, and wrist guards that they purchased earlier in the week.

At the sidewalk, Maura watched them as Jane explained how the brakes worked and how to use the front and back brakes safely. The rest he was going to have to figure out for himself once he got going. He got on the bike, one foot on a pedal and the other on the ground.

Jane said, “I’m going to help you stay balanced to start with but when you get going I’m going to let go and you’ll be on your own. If you start to fall or if you want to slow down and stop, lower one foot to the ground like you are now so you don’t fall over. But if you fall, it’s okay, that’s what happens to everyone when they’re learning. Do you have any questions?”

“I just pedal?”

“Basically. And keep yourself upright. That’s the thing you’re going to have to learn and get used to. Remember if you go real slow, it’s harder to stay balanced. I’m sure your mom knows the scientific explanation for that.”

“Actually, there is quite a bit of disagreement among physicists about why that’s the case,” Maura said.

Jane looked over at her and deadpanned, “Really?”

Maura nodded. “Yes, it’s actually quite fascinating that it has been so difficult to understand.”

“Anyway,” Jane said, turning back to Billy after giving Maura a smile. “If you feel really wobbly, try going a little faster if you feel comfortable trying that. Ready?”

“Ready,” he responded.

“Let’s go.”

Billy started pedaling slowly and Jane, with a hand on the back of his seat and one on his handlebar, kept pace next to him until he sped up more and she dropped off and let him ride. When he wobbled a little, he put a foot down and stopped. He hopped off the bike and walked it back to where Jane and Maura were standing.

“Good job,” Maura said encouragingly, clapping her hands.

“Pretty good,” Jane said. “How’d it feel?”

“Okay.”

“Ready to go again?” They repeated the same process and Billy rode further this time. 

After a few more times doing the same thing, Jane said, “I think you can get started without me now. Just start pedaling with one foot and keep going from there. You’ll be fine.”

Billy tried and was able to start riding without Jane supporting the bike. He rode down the sidewalk a ways and then came to a stop, turned the bike around, got back on, and started back towards them. He wobbled a bit getting started but then was able to smooth out and be fine.

While they watched him continued riding back and forth like that, Jane said to Maura, “My brothers and I used to ride our bikes all over the place when we were kids. Why didn’t he ever learn to ride a bike before?”

“Have you ever been to San Francisco?” Maura replied.

“No, but there are a lot of hills right?”

“It wouldn’t have been easy to ride near our house. We could have gone to a park or something but he never asked and it never occurred to me. But maybe we’ll have to take a trip to San Francisco sometime so you can see where we used to live.”

“Yeah, that would be fun. Oh shit,” Jane said as her attention turned back to Billy. He had tried to turn around in a neighbor’s driveway while still riding and fell over in the process. Maura started to move to go check on him, but Jane gently grabbed her arm and held her back. “You okay?” she yelled out to Billy.

“Yeah,” he called back as he got up and got back on the bike to ride back to them.

“You’re doing a great job,” Maura said when he stopped in front of them. “Are you tired? It’s been a long day with baseball and everything.”

He shrugged in response.

“Why don’t you give that one more try,” Jane said. “Ride down and turn in that driveway and come back.”

He rode off again and Maura said to Jane, “Do you think I baby him?”

“No,” Jane said with a chuckle, and pulled Maura closer to give her a kiss on the temple. “I really don’t. But I do think it’s good to end with a success rather than a failure.”

He rode down the sidewalk and tried to make the turn again, this time losing balance again as he slowed down in the turn, but he didn’t fall. He pedaled back towards them and said, “I’m going to try again.”

While they watched him make another attempt, Maura said, “You wouldn’t have put him in all of that protective gear though, would you?”

Jane thought about it. “I don’t know. I mean, the helmet, yes, definitely. But the other stuff, I don’t know. Getting bumps and bruises or even a few broken bones isn’t necessarily a bad thing for a kid. On the other hand, if he got hurt biking, he wouldn’t be able to play baseball or soccer, so that would suck.” She shrugged and said, “This parenting-type stuff is all new to me, you know, and it probably wouldn’t have occurred to me to get any protective gear ahead of time like it did for you.”

Maura poked her in the side and said, “You’re doing an exceptional job with him.”

“Thanks,” Jane said with a lopsided smile.

Angela poked her head outside then and said, “Dinner is almost ready, girls.”

“Okay, we’ll be right in, Ma,” Jane called back.

They turned their attention back to Billy and watched as he made the turn in the neighbor’s driveway and biked back towards them. Instead of stopping he rode past and turned into Angela’s driveway.

“Hey!” Jane said. “You did it.”

“Good job, honey,” Maura added.

“I think you’ve mastered everything now. You’re officially a biker,” Jane said.

“I think the term is cyclist. Biker suggests he’s riding motorcycles.”

“Okay, cyclist,” Jane agreed. “What do you think?” she asked Billy.

“It’s fun,” Billy answered.

“Maybe we can plan to all go for a ride on one of the bike trails,” Maura suggested.

“Can I get my own bike?” he asked and Jane smirked at Maura over his head.

“I think that we can look into that,” Maura responded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before they moved, Jane asked Maura to reschedule her next appointment with Dr. Walcott for after the chaos of the move was over and for a time they could both go. Maura still insisted she could go get the ultrasound on her own, but agreed to make the next appointment to discuss the ultrasound results and next steps for a time they were both free. 

When they arrived at the scheduled appointment, they were told that Dr. Walcott was delayed because of an earlier emergency, but they were shown to an exam room to wait for her. After about five minutes of waiting, Jane stood up and walked around the room nervously, first reading the various posters on the wall and then opening and looking into all of the supply-filled drawers in the room.

Finally, Maura reached out for Jane’s hand to get her to stop and once Jane’s hand was in hers, she said, “Maybe we should talk about sperm donors.”

“What about Ian?” Jane said with a shrug.

“No,” Maura quickly responded.

“It was just a thought. You told me was the perfect sperm donor. Doesn’t he have all the qualities you’d want?”

Maura shook her head. “I’m not in touch with Ian and I’m not interested in bringing him back into my life or Will’s life now. I’m certainly not going to get in touch just to ask for his genetic material.” 

“Okay,” Jane nodded. “I get that. Not Ian.”

“What about Frankie?” Maura asked.

“Are you serious?”

“We could have a child that shared both of our genetic material.”

“Please stop using the phrase genetic material,” Jane said jokingly but then she became serious. “Look, in an ideal world that would be great, but we can’t make a baby and it would just be too creepy for me to have Uncle Frankie be the baby daddy.” 

“Do you want an anonymous donor?”

“I guess. We can pick one of the broke, handsome, college students who made a deposit at the sperm bank like you said you wanted to.” Jane sat down next to Maura and leaned in to kiss her. When Maura responded, deepening the kiss, Jane cupped Maura’s face gently, and moaned softly. “I know you’re going through all this,” Jane said when they finally broke apart, gesturing around the exam room, “because I brought it up. I want you to know how much I appreciate it. But I know it’s not the only option. We should explore all of our options. I know you’ve thought about adoption and I want to learn about it too.”

Maura frowned and looked down at her lap. “I don’t know. I’m not so sure about adoption anymore.”

“What do you mean? What changed?”

“I talked to my mother a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to ask her about the process her and my father went through to adopt me,” Maura answer slowly.

“And?”

“They didn’t choose me. They didn’t even want to adopt a child.” Maura sighed before continuing, “I always thought that even if my biological parents didn’t want me, at least someone did.”

“I don’t understand. They did adopt you.”

“Right after I was born Patrick Doyle left me with my parents. And while his logic may have been flawed or suspect, he did it because he believed he was protecting me. It wasn’t because he didn’t want me.”

Jane looked at Maura in disbelief. “Your parents know Paddy Doyle?”

Maura shook her head. “Not in the way you’re thinking. My mother was teaching art classes then and he was her student.”

“I don’t-“ Jane started but then stopped and shook her head. She was getting off track what they were supposed to be talking about. Taking both of Maura’s hands in hers, she said, “If we adopted a kid it would be because we wanted him or her. They would always know that we wanted them and loved them.”

“And someday that child would want to know about their biological parents and they would wonder why their biological parents didn’t want them. I know what that feels like, to realize that in order to be adopted, someone else has to give you up. I thought that my own experience and understanding would make me a great adoptive parent. Now I’m not sure.”

Jane squeezed Maura’s hands. “You still know what that feeling is, even if you know now that the circumstances were a little different.”

“I do, but that’s not why I’m not sure if I would be the right person to adopt a child,” Maura said sadly. “Patrick Doyle watched over me my entire life. He had pictures of me. He gave me up for adoption because he wanted to protect me. I’m ashamed to say it makes me happy to know that’s why I was adopted. It wasn’t because my biological parents didn’t want me. Knowing that makes me happier than thinking that my parents wanted to adopt me made me feel. What would I say when inevitably a child we adopted wanted to know why his or her biological parents didn’t want them or wanted to know about my own adoption?”

“Honey, people give up children for adoption for all sorts of reasons. It’s not necessarily about not wanting them. It’s about doing the best thing for the child, which is what Paddy Doyle did. And we don’t have to do a private adoption, right? There’s open adoptions now. But any kid we adopted would be surrounded by love from us and Billy and my mother and all sorts of people. They wouldn’t ever doubt that they were part of a family that loved them.”

“How do you know that?” Maura asked seriously.

Jane released Maura’s and hands and sighed. Looking down at the floor she said, “Because…I know it’s not the same thing…but that’s what you and Billy did for me at a time when I needed it. I know that I had a family, and it’s a totally different situation, but after the Hoyt case, I felt really alone. Everyone either pitied me or they didn’t know how to act around me. But you and Billy just welcomed me as I was and made me a part of your family.”

“I always think about you bringing us into your family.”

Jane shook her head and reached back over into Maura’s lap. “I know you don’t realize or understand how much you’ve done for me. But really, everything we have now was because of you. You and Billy.”

The door of the exam room opened and Dr. Walcott came in saying, “Sorry to keep you waiting.” When she saw the scene in front of her, Maura wiping her eyes and Jane holding her hand, she paused and said, “Is everything alright? Should I give you a minute?”

Jane stood up and said, “We’re good, just having a little heart-to-heart.” She held out her hand and continued, “I’m Jane Rizzoli. It’s nice to meet you.”

Maura stood too and, smiling, shook the doctor’s hand as well. “Hello, Dr. Walcott. Everything is great actually. We were just discussing our options, but I’m eager to hear about the results of the ultrasound.”

They all sat down and Dr. Walcott pulled up the ultrasound pictures on her computer for Maura to look at. “The results of your ultrasound are good. It looks like you are at or even slightly above average in terms of egg count for a woman of your age. If you want to go forward, my recommendation is to first try IUI at least once. If that’s not effective we would move on to IVF.”

“Can you explain what all these terms are for the non-doctor in the room?” Jane asked.

“Of course,” Dr. Walcott responded. “IUI is intrauterine insemination. This is a common procedure for women using a sperm donor in order to increase the chances of fertilization. We would monitor, either through urine testing or an ultrasound, for ovulation. At the optimal time, a catheter is inserted into the uterus and the sperm is injected directly into the uterus. The whole procedure takes about twenty minutes with fairly minimal discomfort. You would be able to take a pregnancy test about two weeks later. Usually we would try intrauterine insemination for at least three to six months before moving on to IVF. Because Maura is in the advanced maternal age category we could go to in vitro fertilization, or IVF, sooner if you would like.”

Jane nodded and asked, “And how does IVF work?”

“We use a needle to remove eggs from the ovaries. Because this can be painful, typically patients are sedated during this process. The removed eggs are inseminated with the sperm in a laboratory. After fertilization the eggs are transferred back to the womb through a catheter inserted through the vagina. Because we use multiple embryos to increase the changes that the procedure will be successful, there is always the chance for multiple pregnancies.”

Jane’s eyes widened at the prospect of multiple babies. “Oh. What are the chances of that?”

“Probably about 25%,” Dr. Walcott answered.

“Oh. That’s kinda high.”

“Of course, because Maura has had a child before and you’re not coming here because of known fertility problems, we can discuss not implanting multiple embryos at once. That’s something the two of you can discuss together and come to some decisions about if you go forward.”

Jane nodded again and looked at Maura with a slightly worried expression on her face. Maura just smiled at her reassuringly. 

“Do you have any questions, Maura?” the doctor asked.

“Is there anything else we should be aware of or thinking about?” she asked.

“Did you start a multi-vitamin with folic acid?”

“Yes,” Maura responded.

“Then I think the rest is up to you to decide if you want to try to get pregnant and how you’re going to do it. If you don’t have any other questions today, then I think we’re done. You call me if you think of anything or call the office to set up another appointment when you’re ready.”

“Thank you,” Maura said. 

“Yeah, thanks,” Jane added.

After the doctor left, Maura looked at Jane, who still looked worried, and said, “Let’s go home, babe. We have a lot to figure out.”


	27. Chapter 27

Maura and Jane lay in bed facing each other, naked and sweaty, legs still tangled together after the vigorous activity of the early morning.

“I love you,” Jane said.

“You’ve mentioned that a few times this morning,” Maura said with playful smirk.

“I have?”

Maura chuckled. “You didn’t know?”

“No.”

“You have a tendency to say it at certain times during sex.”

Jane’s eyes widened. “Since when?”

“Probably for about the past two months.”

Jane sighed in relief that she hadn’t said it Maura without knowing before she had actually said it to her on purpose. “Well, I do love you.”

“I love you too. And there’s something I think we should discuss.”

“What is it?”

“I think at some point you should formally adopt Will. You’re essentially acting as one of his parents now. I think it makes sense to formalize your relationship with him. If something ever happened to me, I would want him to stay with you and I want your position in his life to be official.”

“Wow, that’s…I’m not going to pretend I wouldn’t want that too. I think it’s up to you and him though in terms of if that’s what you want and when you want to do it.”

“Well, I’m going to talk to my lawyer and have her start the process and the paperwork, so it’s ready when we are.”

“Do you think we’re being selfish?” Jane asked. “Or, am I being selfish?”

“About what?” Maura asked, genuinely confused by Jane’s question.

“Wanting another kid when we already have a perfect one. I love him. I really do. And I will always treat him like my kid. But I missed out on all the baby and toddler stuff and I think I would really love to go through that with you.”

Maura gently stroked her fingers against Jane’s cheek. “Why would that be selfish?”

“I don’t know. The past week I’ve been thinking a lot more about adoption, despite the last conversation we had about it. I just keep thinking that we have so much, why not share that with a child who doesn’t have a home?”

“That’s a lovely thought,” Maura said softly.

“I know we’ve talked a lot about pregnancy. And don’t think I haven’t noticed that you haven’t had a drink in two weeks or that I’m pretty sure you switched to decaf coffee a few days ago. But what do you actually want?”

“I love the idea of having another baby and going through the pregnancy with you.”

“I could massage your feet at the end of the day and run out in the middle of the night to satisfy all of your crazy food cravings.”

Maura nodded. “I didn’t get to do all of that with a partner the first time.”

“But?” Jane asked, sensing there was more Maura wanted to say.

Maura rolled away from Jane onto her back. “But, we could go through the whole process and it might not work and I’ll have let you down. Or there are a variety of problems the fetus could have and we would have to make a decision about how to deal with those things. That sort of stress on a relationship…I don’t want to disappoint you.”

Jane snuggled closer to Maura’s side and traced her fingers on her abdomen. “You could never disappoint me and I would never think you were letting me down.”

“You say that now…” Maura said, trailing off. 

“Never,” Jane repeated.

“I also wonder if we should be bringing another life into the world when there are kids who need homes. You’re right. We have so much to give. I always thought that adoption would be something I could do and despite the doubts I expressed last week, I do still think it’s something I could do.”

“Maybe we should talk to someone about it. Find out all of the information we need to know,” Jane suggested.

Maura nodded. “That’s a good idea. I can ask my lawyer about that too.”

“Great. Now will you get back over here?” Jane said playfully, pulling on Maura’s waist until she turned back towards her and began another round of kissing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Maura woke up on Thursday the following week, the first thing she realized was that she was alone in bed, even though she was normally awake before Jane. She could hear the faint sound of Jane and Will downstairs and then the sound of one or both of them walking up the stairs. She glanced at the clock and discovered that either she had forgotten to set her alarm or she had slept through it. But that didn’t make sense because Jane was up and Jane wouldn’t have let her just sleep late. 

Before she could piece together what was going on, Jane and Will burst into the room carrying a tray of food that they brought over to the bed and set on her lap. “What’s all this?” Maura asked.

“Happy Birthday!” Jane and Will yelled in unison.

Maura beamed at them and said, “Wow. I wasn’t expecting this.”

Will leaned against her and said, “Happy Birthday, Mom.”

Maura wrapped an arm around him and pulled him against her so she could kiss the side of his head. “Thank you, sweetie.”

“So…for your birthday we decided to plan a whole day of things that we thought you would like to do,” Jane explained. “Billy planned something awesome for this afternoon and we’re all going to go to dinner and then I’m going to take you somewhere this evening. But this morning, I’m going to take Billy to camp for the morning session and you are free to spend your time however you want. Although I did book you an appointment at that mud bath massage place you’re always trying to get me to go to. So that’s an option if you want to do it.”

“But, what about work?” Maura asked.

“Oh, right. We both have the day off,” Jane explained.

“How did you arrange that?”

“I was able to call in some favors and possibly make some promises. But it wasn’t much of a problem. So eat breakfast and leave everything for us to clean up later. The spa details are on the kitchen counter if you decide you want to check that out. We’ll be back for lunch. Do you need anything before we go?”

Maura shook her head and said, “I don’t think so.”

“Ready to go, Billy?” Jane asked.

“Yup.” 

“Go grab your backpack, okay? I’ll meet you downstairs.”

“Bye, Mom. See you this afternoon. I love you,” he said running out of the room.

“I love you, too,” she yelled after him.

Jane came over and gave her a kiss on the lips. “And I love you, too. Happy Birthday.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to come back after dropping him off and spend the morning with me?”

“Hmm, that’s very, very tempting. But you never get time to yourself so take this morning to relax and do whatever you want to do. I think you’re going to enjoy the rest of the day. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Their first stop in the afternoon was Harvard’s Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, a museum solely comprised of old scientific instruments that was currently  featuring an exhibit about the history of the exploration of human anatomy.

As they made their way through the exhibit and Will ran ahead of them, Maura slipped her hand into Jane’s and said, “Did Will really pick this out?”

“Let’s say he was instrumental in figuring it out,” Jane answered. “He also helped pick out the restaurant for dinner. He had a lot of good ideas and input about things you would like and he was sure you would really like this place.”

“I do!” Maura said happily.

“I can tell. You’re like a kid on Christmas morning.”

“Jane,” Maura protested, bumping her shoulder against Jane’s.

“What? This is the most excited I’ve ever seen you.”

“The most excited?”

“Yes. I think so. I mean, I get it. There’s this weird lung replica and some guy’s notes about his first autopsy. A weird cast of a head. All your favorite things in one place.”

“I know you’re teasing me, but you are kind of right.”

“I knew it.”

Maura made a face at her and said, “I’m going to go join my son and see what he’s found since he knows me so well and appreciates this as much as I do.”

Jane held on to Maura’s hand and pulled her back for a quick kiss before letting her catch up with Will.

Once Maura and Will inspected every item in the museum, they headed to Somerville for an early dinner at a Japanese restaurant. Will told Jane that in San Francisco Maura’s favorite food to eat when they went out was sushi, which was surprising to Jane because Maura hadn’t ever mentioned wanting to go out for sushi, but she figured it would be a good surprise. There were fancier sushi places in the city but Jane asked around and this was the one that people said had the best food. She even told herself she would let Maura order for her and try everything she suggested.

After dinner they returned home. Jane arranged a babysitter for the evening so she and Maura could go out. After a quick shower, Maura stood in a towel in the bedroom and said, “Will you tell me where we’re going?”

“It’s a surprise,” Jane responded.

Maura pouted and said, “How am I supposed to know what to wear?”

“We’re going two places and both of them you can pretty much wear whatever you want. So you decide and for your birthday, I’ll even let you pick out what I should wear.”

“I get to coordinate our outfits?”

“Yes, if that’s how you want to put it.”

It was a warm summer night and Maura opted for a light green and white patterned sundress and a white cardigan for if the evening got colder. After much deliberation, she decided on a pair of white jeans and a dark green silk button down for Jane, both of which Maura had recently purchased for her and both of which hadn’t been worn yet.

Once they were dressed and the babysitter had arrived, Jane and Maura headed out. When Jane pulled into the parking garage across from the Museum of Fine Arts, Maura said, “I wasn’t expecting you to be ready to go to an art museum anytime soon after our trip to the ICA with my mother.”

“I don’t like modern art. I can say that for sure. But I do like the MFA. And I know you’ve wanted to come here since you moved so I thought it was about time we made it. We only have a couple of hours tonight, but I got us a family membership so we can come whenever you want now and we can come back with Billy sometime.”

Inside, Maura picked up a guide map and started looking at it. “What are we going to see tonight?”

“That’s up to you. Hopefully not anything done by your mother though, please.”

Maura lightly swatted Jane’s arm, and said, “My mother doesn’t have any pieces on display here, which I’m pretty sure you already know. Why don’t we start with the Art of the Ancient World tonight and go chronologically? Ooh, and maybe Textiles and Fashion Arts?”

“Lead the way,” Jane said in agreement.

They walked around the museum hand-in-hand, looking at the ancient Greek sculpture and pottery and then the Egyptian sculptures, statues, and mummy related art. Maura knew a lot of information, everything from the place art in Greek culture to how mummies were preserved, which she shared with Jane as they viewed the pieces.

“How do you know all this stuff?” Jane asked. “I mean, you must've taken a lot of science classes in college and then you went to medical school. How did you have time to learn all this other stuff and how do you still remember it all?”

Maura shrugged. “I like to learn about different things. I started learning about art because of my mother. But then I learned to appreciate it on my own. I certainly don’t remember everything but remember things that I find astounding. I am continually in awe of what human beings can do.”

Jane nodded in understanding and said, “That’s a wonderful perspective and one of the reasons I love you.” Maura looked at her questioningly and Jane continued, “I guess I’m used to seeing the worst things people do. I should remember to look at things the way you do more often.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They looked through the museum until it closed and they were ushered out. When they left, Jane pulled out of the parking garage and turned in the opposite direction of their house.

“Where are we going?” Maura asked.

“We have one more stop.”

“I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me what it is.”

“Nope.”

When Jane turned onto South Huntington, Maura had a hunch about where they were going and felt more confident about it when Jane parked on Centre Street. Outside of the car, Jane took Maura’s hand and led her to Ten Tables.

“We already had dinner,” Maura said.

“We’re here for dessert.” 

“It’s late. Are you sure they’re open?”

“They’re open,” Jane said, pushing the door open into the empty restaurant and adding, “For us.”

Inside the restaurant they were greeted by a waiter who said, “Good evening Detective Rizzoli and Dr. Isles. Your table is ready and I’ll be right out with your food.” He directed them to the candlelit table by the front window.

Maura gave Jane a sly smiled and asked, “How did you arrange all of this?”

“They were very happy to accommodate the Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth for a special birthday dessert,” Jane said. “I may have also had to flash my badge a little.”

A moment later the waiter returned with a large slice of chocolate cake and ice cream and two glasses of sparkling wine.

“Cheers,” Jane said, holding up her glass and tapping it against Maura’s when she held hers up. “Happy birthday.”

Maura smiled and responded, “Thank you.”

“I didn’t get you a birthday present,” Jane said. “I mean I didn’t get you any specific thing for your birthday. From what I can tell you pretty much get yourself what you want or need. I just wanted everything about today to be special for you. ”

“You don’t have to give me things, Jane. Today was perfect. It was the perfect birthday.”

“But I do have something for you.”

“Oh?” Maura said softly and curiously.

Jane pulled a very small box out of her pocket and handed it to Maura. Maura set the box down in front of her and after giving Jane a small smile, she pulled on the end of the ribbon tied around the box to untie it. She opened the lid of the box and gasped at what she saw inside. “Jane,” she said softly as she pulled the emerald ring out of the box. She looked up to see Jane standing and then bending down onto one knee in front of her. “What are you doing?” she asked in surprise.

“I’m trying to propose to you,” Jane answered with a laugh. “I think public proposals are kinda cheesy but I wanted it to be special and meaningful, so hopefully this will be. Is it okay if I continue?”

Maura nodded, biting her bottom lip and blinking back tears. 

Jane took hold of Maura’s hand and said, “I think I honestly fell in love with you the day we met. I was really still trying to figure out how to live my life again and you made it easy. You made everything make sense again. That alone would have been enough for me, but the fact that you love me too is continually amazing to me. It’s been almost a year since we met and without question it’s been the very best year of my life. I promise I will never stop doing everything I can to make you as happy as you make me. Maura, will you marry me?”

Maura let out a shaky breath, realizing she had been holding it while Jane spoke. “Of course. Of course I will,” Maura exclaimed, unable to stop the tears from falling any longer. She put her hands on Jane’s face and leaned down to kiss her lips. 

After wiping her eyes, Maura turned back to look at the ring and picked it up. “Oh my goodness, this ring. Where did this come from?”

Jane took the ring from Maura’s hands and slid it on the ring finger on Maura’s left hand. “My Nonna Rizzoli gave it to my mother when she married my father. Ma thought it was perfect for you.”

“No, Jane, that’s too much.”

“No, it’s not. But if it doesn’t fit quite right we’ll get it resized.”

“It fits…perfectly,” Maura replied.

“See, it was meant for you.” Jane stood up and then bent down to kiss Maura again before retaking her seat. “Billy thought you would like it if I proposed at the Science Museum.”

“You talked to him about proposing?”

“Well, I talked to him about the possibility of us getting married. I wanted to make sure he was comfortable with the idea. It’s not like I asked him permission or anything, but I wanted to give him a chance to think about it, rather than springing it on him.”

Maura reached across the table to take Jane’s hand and said, “Jane Rizzoli, you are the most incredible, thoughtful, caring person I have every known. I can’t wait to call you my wife.”


	28. Chapter 28

“Tell me you got something off of the body,” Jane said, bursting into the morgue where Maura stood at one of the lab’s computers.

Maura shook her head. 

“Dammit,” Jane said and Maura watched her shoulders slump.

They were both running on very little sleep. After returning home from Ten Tables the previous night, they had continued Maura’s birthday celebration by making love into the early morning hours. They were harshly brought back to reality after only a few hours of sleep when both of their phones went off, calling them to a crime scene in Dorchester. 

A young man was found apparently stabbed to death in an alley in Dorchester and he was found by a resident taking out his trash in the early morning. His wallet and phone were still on him, making robbery a less likely motive, and leaving Jane with little to go on. “We talked to all of the neighbors living around the alley. No one heard anything or saw anything. It looks like he lived alone about half a mile from where he was found and we haven’t tracked down any family.”

“I can confirm that the cause of death was exsanguination due to stab wounds. The murder weapon punctured his right lung, but it was the blood loss that caused his death.”

“But nothing on the body that could connect us to his killer?”

“No. Sorry.”

Jane let out a frustrated groan. “What about murder weapon?”

“I’m working on a model. I’ll have it for you soon.”

“I need a lot more coffee than I’ve had so far today. Want to take a break with me upstairs?”

“I shouldn’t. I have to write this autopsy report and go through all of the lab reports from yesterday.”

Jane moved over to where Maura stood and wrapped her arms around Maura’s waist. “You’re not wearing your ring,” she said questioningly.

Maura pulled on the thin gold necklace around her neck and pulled the ring out from under her blouse. “I wasn’t sure if I should wear it on my hand or if I should wait until we tell everyone. Your mother will know as soon as she sees me wearing the ring, right? I didn’t get a chance to ask you about it this morning. I was also thinking we should tell Will first before everyone else knows and there was no time this morning.”

“I guess we should decide how and when to tell friends and family. And we should do it on our terms. Once my mother finds out, everyone will know. Maybe a family get together?”

“I can invite my parents to visit next weekend and we can tell everyone at once.”

“Alright. Let the fun of our families meeting each other begin,” Jane joked.

Maura responded by saying, “Go get coffee. Will you be home for dinner?”

“I doubt it, but I’ll let you know.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jane didn’t make it home for dinner and when she wasn’t home by the time Maura had finished cleaning up after and she and Will ate, she went upstairs to Will’s room. He was on his bed on his iPad and she sat down on the bed next to him, wrapped an arm around his shoulders, and said, “What are you playing?”

He showed her the app he was playing with that involved building robots that would then fight against each other. Maura had turned on the appropriate parental restrictions for his age, but otherwise let Will have the freedom to download the apps he wanted. He played a lot of games but also used a number of educational apps he often heard about at school. The robots fighting seemed to be a mix of engineering education and nonsensical robot battles. Maura tended not to pay too much attention because usually he would use an app for a few days or weeks and then move on to something new.

“Can we talk for a few minutes?” she asked.

“Okay.”

She waited for him to put the iPad down before saying, “I know that Jane talked to you a little bit about it already, but I want you to be the first to know that we are going to get married.”

“That’s cool. Are you going to have a wedding?” he asked.

“Yes, I think we’ll have a wedding, but we haven’t talked about it or made any plans yet.”

“I’ve never been to a wedding.”

“There hasn’t been the opportunity for you to go to one before,” Maura said, brushing her hand through his hair as he leaned his head against her shoulder. “We’ll have to discuss what role you might want to play in the ceremony. But is there anything else you want to ask me about me and Jane getting married?”

“Um…I don’t think so.”

“I don’t think much would change in our lives. I want you to know that I would like Jane to officially adopt you too once we are married.”

“What does that mean?” he asked.

“Again, I don’t it would anything really. But if something were to ever happen to me, Jane would already have the legal right to act as your parent. Or if anything was to come up now with school or playing sports or something, she would be recognized as your parent too.”

“But you’re still my mom?” he said.

She kissed the side of his head. “Always, sweetheart. Nothing will change that. I just want to make sure you’re always taken care of and I think Jane is the best person for that.”

“Okay.”

“I love you. I’m just thinking about what’s best for you,” she said and kissed his head again.

“I love you too, Mom.”

“Well, I should talk to you about something else right now since we’re talking about all of this. What would you think about having a baby brother or sister?”

“Eh, no thanks,” he answered without missing a beat and with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Oh…well,” Maura stammered. “The thing is…Jane and I have been talking about the possibility of having or adopting another child. I wanted to let you know that it is a possibility.”

“Zack has a little brother and he’s so annoying. And Dustin has a baby sister and he says she just cries and poops all the time,” Will said.

Maura bit back a laugh and said, “Well, just so we’re clear, I’m not asking your permission to have another child. But I do want you to know we’re thinking about it and it is a possibility.”

“I don’t think you should. Aren’t you too old to have a baby?” he asked.

Maura’s mouth hung open, thrown off by the question for a moment before she was able to answer, “Well, no, we’re not too old to have a baby. And when I was your age I often wondered what it would be like if I had a sibling to play with or who could teach me things. Jane had two younger brothers to play with and they are important people in her life now. Wouldn’t you like a little brother or sister to play with and look out for?”

“I like things the way they are now,” Will explained. “Me, you, and Jane.”

“Well, that’s something to consider,” she conceded, “but this won’t be the end of these conversations, okay?”

He shrugged.

She pulled him closer again and then got up. “I’m going to go get changed for bed and I’ll come back down in a few minutes to say goodnight. I love you sweetie.”

“I know, Mom,” he said with a bit of exasperation in his voice. “I love you too.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A week later Jane woke up Saturday morning and, as usual on the weekends, turned over to find the bed empty. Maura seemed to always wake up before her and slip out of bed no matter how early she woke up. Jane got out of bed and pulled on a pair of short and a tank top and moved across the room to the doorway of the small room that they had turned into a yoga room and where she knew she would find Maura.

A few weeks after moving into the house, one afternoon they had painted the room a deep blue that Maura said would give the room the energy of calmness and serenity. She said that the blue should make them think of clear skies and refreshing water. Jane didn’t really get those feelings from the wall color but she was enjoying the room more than she had anticipated. Before they moved in together, Maura had convinced Jane to accompany her to a handful of yoga classes. But between the earnestness of the instructors and some of the students and the others attendees who the spent each class ogling Maura, she hadn’t really enjoyed them. 

This was different though. Weekend mornings when she woke up, Jane would find Maura going through yoga poses or simply sitting cross-legged on the floor meditating. Sometimes Jane would just silently watch Maura from the doorway and sometimes she would join her, letting Maura guide her through the series of yoga poses. 

This morning Maura was sitting quietly on her yoga mat and Jane went to join her, sitting cross-legged on her mat next to Maura’s. There was no way she would have ever even thought about meditating before she had met Maura. It was usually hard for her to sit still for even thirty seconds, but she found that she could happily sit next to Maura for as long as Maura wanted to, even if she wasn’t really meditating.

Maura’s eyes were closed but when Jane sat down she said, “Hi.”

“Hi. Am I disrupting your meditation?”

“No. I was just thinking about you and about possible dates for our wedding. We need to start thinking about it now so we are able to book the place we want for the date we want.”

“That sounds very formal. Is this going to be a large wedding?”

“My parents will have people they want to invite to the wedding and you have a lot of extended family, right?”

“Oh god. Let’s just elope.”

Maura reached over and poked Jane’s arm and said, “Jane.”

“I’m serious. We’re like forty. We should only have to invite the people we want at our wedding and our parents don’t have to get together and agree to terms or whatever.”

“I agree about guests. I would prefer to keep it small. I would even run off with you and elope under other circumstances, but I want Will to be at our wedding so I don’t think that would work.”

“Do you have any thoughts on where we should get married?” Jane asked.

“I always wanted to get married on the cliffs Santorini overlooking a volcano,” Maura said.

“Well I always wanted to get married at home plate at Fenway,” Jane admitted.

Maura giggled. “No, you didn’t, did you?”

“Yes, I did. I still kinda do actually.”

“Hmm. I suppose we could look into that,” Maura responded.

“I’m kidding. I just want something small and simple. Where exactly is Santorini?” Jane asked.

“It’s an island southeast of Greece in the Aegean Sea.”

“Well, that could be small, but I guess not simple.”

Maura shook her head and said, “It’s impractical.”

“Hey, if that’s what you want to do, we can just take Billy and go, and we’ll just tell everyone else too bad,” Jane said.

“No, I want family and friends at the wedding too.” After a moment’s pause, Maura said, “How about on a beach?”

Jane thought for a moment and answered, “Maybe.”

“Or in our backyard?” Maura suggested. “There’s only enough room for family and close friends there.”

“That’s an idea. Maybe we should see how today goes first? We may decide we need a bigger venue so we can separate our families and we don’t lose our minds. Are you ready for everyone to be here this afternoon?” Jane asked.

“I hope so. The guest room is ready for my parents. I have the menu all planned and your mother is going to help with the food preparation. Do you think your father is going to come to dinner?” Maura asked.

“I called him and left a message,” Jane said. “But I’m not going to beg him to come. Either he’ll show up or he won’t.”

“Do you want him to be at dinner?”

“Honestly, not really. I know that’s terrible, but I don’t want to have to worry the whole time about him making a scene like the last time we had dinner. I really don’t want Billy to see that again or your parents to see all of my family’s issues during the first visit.”

“I understand what you mean. But my family isn’t perfect. We’ll all get through this weekend the best we can.”

Jane laughed lightly. “That’s the spirit.” She leaned over to kiss Maura on the cheek and then stood up and said, “I’m going to take a shower and then make breakfast. I’ll see you downstairs when you’re ready.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maura called her parents the previous weekend and invited them to come stay this weekend under the pretense of wanting them to see the new house and her father to get to meet Jane. Her parents couldn’t make it for the entire weekend, but agreed to fly up Saturday afternoon and stay for one night. They were scheduled to arrive at the house around five that evening. Maura didn’t think they suspected that there was any other reason they were invited, although she did tell them that Saturday dinner was going to be with Jane’s family as well.

Jane’s mother, on the other hand, had been buzzing around the house all afternoon preparing food with a big smile on her face and, coupled with Jane’s continual eye rolls at her behind her mother’s back, Maura had to assume that Angela had guessed why everyone had been invited for dinner. Fortunately, that meant that Angela offered to help make food for the evening because without her help, Maura would have spent the entire day stressing about the preparations.

While Maura worked with Angela in the kitchen and Jane sat talking to Tommy and Frankie, Will went back and forth between the two groups, trying to entertain himself. With his little league baseball season over and the Red Sox suffering through a terrible season, Will had turned his attention back to football. He finally got bored of listening to grown-up talk and Maura heard him say, with a hint of whining in his voice, “Jane, let’s go play football.”

Jane turned from her conversation with her brothers and looked at him thoughtfully and said, “That is a very good idea. Go get your football and we’ll go play down the street.”

When he ran upstairs and Jane and her brothers got up and moved into the kitchen area, Maura asked, “Are you going out?”

“Billy wants to play some football so we’re going to go to the park down the street.”

“That’s a nice idea,” Maura responded.

Will came downstairs with his football under his arm and said, “Mom, come play with us.”

“Oh, I don’t know, sweetie, there’s still some things to prepare for dinner,” Maura responded.

“Go ahead, Maura,” Angela chimed in. “We’re almost done and I can take care of everything else. Go have fun.”

Without another viable excuse and with Will and Jane looking at her expectantly, Maura could only say, “Okay, if you’re absolutely sure that you don’t mind, Angela.”

“Of course I don’t mind. It will be easier to finish preparing everything if you all get out of my hair for a little while anyway.”

Maura decided to let that comment from Angela go. Although she was grateful for the help, she was still getting used to Angela’s tendency to take things over in the kitchen, despite Jane’s warnings. So while Angela stayed at the house, the five of them headed to the small park that was a block down the street. There were a few other families using the park, spread out on blankets for picnics or playing with dogs, but they were able to secure one corner to play in.

“Okay, what’s the plan, Billy?” Jane asked. “Should we have a friendly scrimmage?”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Me, you, and Mom against Tommy and Frankie.”

They played for a while with agreed upon rules for the small space—fours downs to score, no snapping the ball, no rushing the passer, two-hand touch—largely trading touchdowns and not really keeping score. Maura did her best to participate, making a few passes and managing a few catches. Even combined though, her and Will couldn’t really guard either of Jane’s taller and faster brothers, so the teams were somewhat evenly matched.

Playing like this reminded Maura of when she and Jane first met and most of their interactions involved playing or watching sports with Will. Jane was so patient and easygoing about playing today, just as she had been a year ago, while casually teaching Will, and her, while they played. While she had immediately found Jane physically attractive, it was really the way Jane treated her and Will that made Maura fall in love with her.

Jane caught Maura staring at her and winked. Maura realized that she hadn’t been paying attention to their game for a little bit and probably had a goofy look on her face while thinking about Jane. 

Jane gestured for her to join her and Will in their little huddle and explained her plan for the next play. Will and Maura spread to either side of Jane, who had the football, and then crossed behind her. Jane faked the hand-off to Will and then turned and tossed the ball underhanded to Maura on her other side. 

Frankie and Tommy bit on the fake to Will and Maura ran easily to their makeshift end zone. Will was right behind her to give her a hug to celebrate her first touchdown and yelling, “Go, Mom.” 

Jane followed and gave her a high five and then a kiss. She then turned to her brothers and said, “I think that was the game winner. It’s probably time to head home.”

Frankie and Tommy started to argue with Jane about which team actually won, but Maura looked at her watch and said, “Oh! It’s later than I thought. We do need to go home, my parents flight should have just landed. Come on, Will, Grandma and Grandpa are going to arrive soon.”

Back at the house, they noisily entered the front door, Tommy and Jane still arguing over which team scored more touchdowns, to find Angela sitting in the living room with Maura’s parents.

Will immediately ran over to give both of his grandparents a hug.

“Mother, Father,” Maura said in surprise as she moved to give them both a kiss on the cheek after they hugged Will, “you’re early.”

“We managed to catch an earlier flight,” Constance explained. “The car dropped us off a little while ago. We were just chatting with Mrs. Rizzoli and having some tea. You look like you were out running around or something. You’re all sweaty, darling,” Constance said, with what Maura detected as a hint of disapproval.

Jane stepped up before Maura could respond and held out her hand to Constance and said, “Hello, Constance, it’s so nice to see you again.” Then she turned to Maura’s father to shake his hand and say, “And you must be Mr. Isles. It’s very nice to meet you. I’m Jane.”

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Jane. Please call me Edward,” he said, clasping both of his hands around hers.

“And you’ve met my mother. These are my brothers Frankie and Tommy,” Jane said, gesturing to each of them and letting them shake hands with Maura’s parents. “We were just down the street playing a little football.”

“I didn’t know you played football, Maura,” her father said.

“Will loves football,” Maura responded. “And sometimes we all play together.”

“Maura scored the winning touchdown today,” Jane added, throwing a playful look at Tommy over her shoulder.

“Well, how about that?” Maura’s father responded.

“Can we have a tour of the house?” Constance interjected.

“Yes, good idea,” Maura agreed. “You’ve seen most of the downstairs, let’s go upstairs,” she said, pointing her parents towards the stairs.

Will followed them saying, “I want to show them my room.”

Maura hung back a moment at the bottom of the stairs, mouthing “ _I love you”_ to Jane. Jane gave her a smile and a wink. Maura took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders and followed upstairs too.


	29. Chapter 29

Once Maura and her parents were safely on the second floor, Angela turned to her three children and said, “I suppose I should be happy that you three didn’t come back covered in grass stains or with bloody noses, but you’re all sweaty. Go to the bathroom and clean up before they come back downstairs,” she said, pointing to the bathroom off the kitchen. “Jane, you first,” Angela commanded.

When Jane went into the small first floor bathroom her mother followed her. “Making sure I clean up properly?” Jane said sarcastically.

“No, Miss Smartypants. I just wanted to tell you privately that your father isn’t coming.”

“Figures,” Jane said with a shrug.

Angela shook her head and said, “He said he was going to come but I told him not to.”

“Why did you do that?”

“You know how he is, Jane. I didn’t want him to embarrass you or himself in front of Maura’s parents.”

“You told him that?” Jane asked in disbelief.

“No. I told him that I wasn’t comfortable with him coming.”

“That wasn’t really your decision, Ma.”

Angela sighed and admitted, “He sent me annulment papers two weeks ago, Janie.”

“Annulment?” Jane said, immediately livid on her mother’s behalf. “What the hell? What did you do?”

“I sent him divorce papers back with the unsigned annulment papers.”

“I’m sorry, Ma, but good for you.”

Angela gave her daughter a sad smile. “It’s okay. I don’t want to ruin your day. I just wanted you to know that he’s not coming.”

“Jesus, Ma. Still…you don’t have to protect me from this stuff. I’m on your side. You know that right?”

“You were always his little girl,” Angela said a little wistfully.

“I’m not anymore.”

Angela pulled her daughter into a hug, kissed her cheek, and then said, “Get cleaned up and then bring Maura’s parents’ luggage upstairs to the guest room.”

Jane washed her hands and face and then brought the suitcase up to the guest room. The others were on the third floor already so she headed up there and found them all in her bedroom.

“This is a very nice house, Jane,” Edward said. “You’ve done a great job with everything.”

“Thank you. Maura is really the decorator though,” Jane said, sliding her arm around Maura’s waist as she spoke. 

“That’s not true,” Maura said. “We’ve done everything together. Jane is being modest. We picked out furniture together and we painted the yoga room together.”

“But Maura was really the designer,” Jane said. “I just had to trust her instincts.”

“Are you sure isn’t too small?” Constance asked.

“Too small?” Jane said in disbelief, thinking Constance must be joking since the house was about four times the size of the apartment she’d lived in for the past decade.

“Well, yes. Our condo in New York is probably twice the square footage and we don’t live there all year,” Constance answered.

“And we barely use half of it most of the time,” her husband added. “Maybe they want to live a little cozier and simpler than we do.”

“Of course. Well, as long as it works for you,” Constance conceded. “It looks very nice.”

“Will, why don’t you take your grandparents downstairs for dinner,” Maura said to her son. “Jane and I will be right down.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once everyone else was out of the room, Jane asked, “Are you ready?”

“Of course,” Maura said, turning into Jane’s body and giving her a kiss on the lips. “I love you. I’m excited to tell our families we’re getting married.”

Jane stepped away and pulled off her still sweaty t-shirt and went into the closet to put on a button down shirt for dinner. 

Maura followed her, peeling off the clothes she had played football in and changing into the sundress she had already picked out for the evening. Then she went to her dresser and from her jewelry box took out the engagement ring. She had been wearing it on a necklace since Jane proposed and this was first time she was going to wear it on her hand since the night Jane gave it to her. Jane came up behind Maura, slid her arms around her waist, and looked over Maura’s shoulder at Maura’s hand. “I should have gotten you a ring too,” Maura said.

“Uh uh,” Jane responded. “I asked you to marry me. You get the engagement ring.”

“Oh, is that how it works?” Maura said laughing. “You’ll wear a wedding ring though, right?”

“Absolutely. I think we should get matching wedding bands.”

“Me too.”

Maura and Jane went downstairs hand in hand. Everyone else was taking their seat at the table at Angela’s direction. Angela, Tommy, and Frankie were seated on one side of the table, while Constance, Edward, and Will were across from them. Places were set for Maura and Jane at each end, but instead of sitting down, they stood together at the head of the table.

“Before we eat, Jane and I want to say a few things,” Maura said. “We’re so very happy to have you all here in our new home and to be able to bring our families together like this. I hope we can do this on a regular basis. Angela, Frankie, Tommy, I know Jane sees you a lot, but I hope we’ll see you here on a regular basis.” Turning to her parents, Maura continued, “Mother, Father, I hope this is just the first of many visits to our home.” Turning to Jane, she said, “We do have one other special announcement to make.”

Maura was expecting Jane to make the announcement, but she was unaware that Jane and Will had made other plans. Jane turned to Will and said, “Billy, want to do the honors?”

Will put a big smile on his face and excitedly, as much about being able to be the one to make the announcement as about the announcement itself, said, “They’re getting married!”

Angela immediately jumped up, and saying most to herself, “I knew it, I knew it,” she pulled both Jane and then Maura into bone crushing hugs. “Congratulations,” she said to Maura. To Jane she said, “I’m so proud of you, honey.”

After Tommy and Frankie offered their congratulations and gave hugs to both of them as well, Maura looked at her parents who had so far been sitting at the table silently.

“Isn’t this a bit fast?” Constance asked.

Maura turned to her mother with a look of disbelief. “Is that really your first response?”

“Congratulations,” Edward said, standing up to give his daughter a hug and shake Jane’s hand. “Of course, we’re very happy for you. But, you have to admit, it is kind of fast.”

“What’s the rush?” Constance said.

“It’s exciting,” Angela interjected, hardly able to contain her own excitement. “Our girls are getting married. It’s a wonderful thing.”

Maura smiled thankfully at Angela and turned back to her mother to say, “We’re getting married because we love each other and we’re committed to each other. We want to live our lives together.”

“You’ve barely known each other a year,” Constance pointed out.

“It’s been the best year of my life,” Maura responded. “In that time we’ve formed this little family. All three of us, Jane, Will, and I. We want to get married so we can make this new family official. I don’t see any reason for us to wait. I guess I shouldn’t have expected anything different from you. But whether you’re happy for us or not, Jane and I are getting married.”

“Maura, of course I’m happy for you. It’s just a bit of shock,” Constance said. “But, yes, of course, congratulations both of you,” she said unconvincingly.

Jane squeezed Maura’s hand and said, “Why don’t we sit down and eat before the food gets cold?”

Dinner proceeded reasonably well, even if Maura’s parents seemed a little overwhelmed by both Jane and Maura’s announcement and the Rizzoli family. Angela asked them to tell everyone how they got engaged and Maura told everyone about everything Jane had done for her birthday.

Then Frankie and Tommy tried to tell embarrassing stories about Jane while Angela tried to keep them under control. Tommy asked Will about how his baseball season wrapped up. His team finished with just a .500 average, but Jane told everyone how much Will’s hitting improved during the season. Then they talked about the upcoming football season, trying to get Will to give up his allegiance to the 49ers in favor of the Patriots.

Angela asked Maura’s parents about their work and then their recent travels, which included just returning from a month in southern France. When Angela expressed her wish that she could travel anywhere in Europe, Constance offered her the use of their house in France or their flat in London.

Maura largely observed the rest of the conversations at dinner. She enjoyed seeing Will interact with Jane’s family, but her thoughts kept going back to her parents’ response to their engagement. After dinner was over, she worked on cleaning up, sending Angela out of the kitchen by insisting that she had already done enough by helping prepare food. Maura really just wanted a few minutes alone with her thoughts. More than being upset with her parents’ lackluster response, by this point she was upset with herself for expecting any different.

Constance came into the kitchen and before Maura could stop herself or collect her thoughts, Maura said bluntly, “Why can’t you ever just be happy for me?”

“I am happy for you,” Constance said.

“It doesn’t feel that way,” Maura said, crossing her arms and leaning against the kitchen counter, fully aware that she was acting like a petulant child but not caring.

Constance shook her head. “It’s just that you have always had so much potential, Maura. You’re so brilliant and so beautiful and you could achieve anything you wanted to. I hate to think that you could be wasting any of your potential.”

Maura laughed bitterly and said, “I see. So, you didn’t like my career choice. You didn’t think I should have a child when I did. You don’t think I should marry Jane. I always, always wanted to make you proud. More than anything else, I wanted you to be proud of my successes. But I realize now that the problem is that you and I simply have a different definition of success. I want a family. I’m in love with Jane and the most important thing to me is the family Jane, Will, and I are creating together. That’s the only achievement I care about.”

“Are you really happy?” Constance asked.

Maura softened and replied easily, “Yes. Completely, truly happy.”

“Then I’m happy for you. I’ll…I’ll try to remember to see things from your point of view.”

“Thank you.”

“I do like Jane,” Constance offered after a moment of silence.

Maura raised an eyebrow at her mother.

“I don’t want you to think otherwise. She’s tough and smart and very protective of you. I believe she loves you very much. I still don’t know what the rush to get married is, but I do believe Jane is deserving of your affections.”

“I suppose, Mother, I’ll take that as your blessing.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


While Maura and her mother talked in the kitchen, Jane was in their small backyard sipping a beer and watching Will play with her brothers. Tommy had even gotten Angela involved and they were playing some kind of variation on four square, seeming to make up the rules as they went along. Will was continually laughing as Angela tried to play but squealed every time the ball came near her.

Maura’s father was watching them with a bewildered look on his face and Jane couldn’t resist saying to him, “Want to give it a try. I’m sure my mother would let you take her place.”

“Oh no,” he responded. “That’s not really my kind of activity.” He smiled awkwardly at Jane and said, “I’m sorry if it seemed that my wife and I weren’t enthusiastic about the engagement. You have to understand that we never heard about any of Maura’s relationships before now. I honestly don’t know if she has been with anyone or not since William was born. Then she moved to Boston and then next thing we heard was that she was moving in with you and now the two of you are engaged. So it all seems very fast to us. But I understand that you have a good relationship with William and it appears that you make Maura very happy. I am glad that she finally found someone.”

“I feel extremely lucky to have found Maura and Billy,” Jane said awkwardly, unsure how else to respond.

“Yes, well, it sounds like you have Maura doing all sorts of new things,” Edward continued stiffly. “Like playing football today. When I think of her as a child and even in college and medical school, so studious and serious, I would never have guessed she would be doing things like that now.”

“That’s not really because of me. She does a lot of things with her son because he wants to do them,” Jane pointed out.

Maura’s father didn’t seem to want to be persuaded from his point of view though. “Well, Maura was always a very solitary child. She spent a lot of time alone as a little girl. And now she’s doing all sorts of things I would have never expected. I think you’ve been a very good influence on her.”

Jane had reached her limit of politely listening to someone talk about Maura without seeming to know her at all, even if that someone was her father. “To be honest,” she said, “I’m not really sure how to respond to that. Maura isn’t that little girl anymore, if she ever was. She’s an amazing mother and an amazing person with all kinds of interests. If anything, she’s been a good influence on me.”

“Good, good. Well, I wish you all the best together,” he said vaguely. 

Maura had told Jane how her father was distant and aloof, often treating her more like a student than his child, and now Jane was beginning to understand what she meant. She was saved from trying to figure out another topic of conversation with him by her mother. 

Angela came over and said, “Janie, come inside, I want to take pictures with everyone before your brothers have to leave.”

Angela gathered everyone in the living room and then gave directions to everyone for pictures in front of the fireplace. One of Maura and her parents, then with Will, then with Jane too. She took a picture of Jane her brothers and then passed off the camera to Constance for a picture of all of the Rizzoli’s and then pictures with Maura. 

Angela took the camera back for a picture of Maura, Jane, and Will and then took a series of pictures of just Maura and Jane. She took a few with the women standing next to each other, then Jane moved behind Maura and wrapped her arms around Maura’s waist. They took one picture of them both smiling at the camera and one with Jane kissing Maura’s cheek. Angela snapped a final picture of them both laughing, neither looking at the camera but both looking ecstatic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


Later that night Jane and Maura lay in bed, Jane pressed against Maura’s back with her arm securely wrapped around her waist while they recounted the various separate conversations they’d had that day with Angela, Constance, and Edward. At the end, Maura said, “I’m beginning to rethink your idea of eloping.”

Jane laughed against Maura’s neck. “Today went about as well as could be expected. Actually I think it went better than I expected. I think a wedding in our backyard with immediate family and a few friends would be perfect.”

“Mmm, okay,” Maura agreed as Jane pressed kisses against her neck. “I didn’t tell you that last week when I was talking about us getting married with Will I also mentioned the possibility of having another baby.” 

“Okay,” Jane said, a little confused about the change in topic.

“He was not in favor of the idea,” Maura added.

Jane laughed again. “That’s not really surprising. I was really young when Frankie was born, but I remember definitely being upset when my parents told me I was going to have another sibling when Ma was pregnant with Tommy. I believe I told them on multiple occasions that it was a bad idea.”

Maura rolled onto her back and said, “But Will has always been so positive about everything. He was completely on board with moving to Boston and with our relationship.”

Jane slid her hand under Maura’s top and traced her fingers on her stomach. “And now he doesn’t want another kid taking away your time and attention or our time together. It’s not really surprising.”

“I suppose that does make sense. Why do you understand my kid better than I do sometimes?”

“I really know how to get inside the mind of an eleven year old,” Jane joked and Maura made a face at her. “I don’t know him better than you. But I do know what’s it’s like to have brothers and wish I didn’t. When I was Billy’s age I would sometimes wish I was adopted and that my real mom, who of course was rich and glamorous, would arrive to take me away so I could be an only child who would be terribly spoiled. But you know what that really means?”

“What?”

“Even the best kids are sometimes just self-involved dummies.”

“Without fully developed brains,” Maura added while laughing.

“Exactly. That’s why they don’t get to make any important decisions.”

Maura pulled down on Jane’s head so she could kiss her lips and then she said, “Let’s get married soon.”

“Like how soon?” Jane asked.

“As soon as we can pull it altogether. Next month?”

“Okay,” Jane happily agreed.


	30. Chapter 30

Jane had tried to ignore the piano that sat in the corner of living room since they moved in. Not that she didn’t appreciate Maura’s gift, both for getting it for her and then for never mentioning it again. But Jane still didn’t like looking at the piano because when she did, part of her wanted to sit down and play and the other part wasn’t ready to find out if her hands were going to let her play or not.

Today she sat down on the piano bench and opened the cover. She glided her hands over the top of the keys. Her hands hadn’t hurt in a long while. Occasionally they were achy, if it was raining or she played baseball or football too long with Billy. Of course her hands always felt better in the summer. The winter would bring more day-to-day aches and maybe some days when they legitimately hurt.  

She put her hands in playing position, fingertips resting against white keys. She knew she remembered how to play. She had played so often for so long that it was ingrained in her. But she was still afraid to find out whether or not her fingers could still make music the way they used to be able to.

Before she could decide whether this was going to be the day she actually tried to play something, Billy sat down next to her and asked, “Do you know how to play?”

“Yes,” Jane answered without really thinking.

“I’ve never heard you,” he responded.

“I haven’t played in a long time.”

“Why?”

“Remember how my hands were injured a few years ago? I couldn’t play for a while and I haven’t played since then because I don’t know if I’ll be able to play as well as I used to,” Jane answered, realizing as she spoke that it wasn’t a very good reason not to play. Not doing something because you might not be great at it anymore sounded like a pretty lame excuse when she said it out loud.

“Will you teach me?” Billy asked.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“If you really want to learn how to play well, it takes a lot of work. You have to learn to read music and learn how to move your fingers to play, especially as the music gets more complicated. You’ll have to take lessons and practice a few hours each week.”

“You can teach me right?”

“We can start with some basics and see if you want to learn more,” Jane suggested.

“Okay. Will you show me something now?”

Jane pressed down on one key with her right thumb. “This is middle C. Generally it will be helpful to understand where middle C is for hand placement and because it starts the C major scale, or key, which is the key that most beginner piano pieces use. The C major scale is C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C,” Jane said, playing each note with her right hand as she said it. She played it again and said, “See how I played the first three notes and then brought my thumb under and fingers over to play the next five notes? A lot of early learning is practicing scales like this so you can learn to move your fingers over the keys the right way and then learning to play progressively harder songs. Wanna try?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, place your fingers here,” Jane said, sliding over on the bench and showing him again where to place his hand. “And go ahead.”

He slowly and awkwardly played each note, copying what Jane had showed him.

“Good,” Jane said. “Now you just have to practice that about a million times and you’ll be a professional piano player.”

“A million?” he said.

“Probably not quite that many. But it’s worth it when you can play something beautiful.” 

He played the scale a few more times, getting the hang of it a little more each time. 

“That’s good,” Jane said again. “Alright, now for something fun.” She put one finger from each hand on adjacent keys and then played chopsticks. Billy laughed when she was done and Jane said, “Wanna try? We can play it together.”

He nodded and she directed him where to start and showed him which notes to hit. Then they slowly went through the notes again together and then faster and faster until they were going as fast as they could and finally were messing it up.

After a moment of laughing about their playing, Billy asked, “Can you play something else?”

“I guess I can try,” Jane answered. She stretched her fingers and then played the first notes of Beethoven’s “Fur Elise.” It was the first piano piece she learned when she was a kid that she considered to be real classical music and she had been so proud that she was able to play something written by one of the world’s greatest composers. 

She had played it so frequently over the years that she didn’t even have to think about the notes but her fingers didn’t fully cooperate. They didn’t have the dexterity they used to, whether because of the injury or the lack of playing Jane didn’t know, and she misplayed a few notes during some of the harder sections. But she did get through the whole piece.

When she was done playing Jane glanced back over her shoulder and saw Maura sitting on the couch watching them. She must have come downstairs when she heard them playing on the piano but Jane didn’t know how long she had been there.

“I like that,” Billy said. “Do you think I could learn to play that?”

“With enough practice, absolutely. You know, I was your age when I started playing.”

“Mom said you might have a baby. Do you want another kid?” he asked, seemingly out of nowhere.

“Maybe,” Jane said cautiously as she tried to formulate her response. “I missed out on the first ten years of your life. I don’t know if you’ll be able to understand until you’re older but that’s something I would like to be able to experience. But when your mom and I talk about having another kid, it’s not because there’s anything missing in our lives. Everything is going pretty good now right?”

“I guess.”

“We’re talking about having another kid because we have so much love to give and we want to be able to share that love. You’ll make a great big brother too. I can tell you that sometimes having a sibling is super annoying, but it is also really fun and special.”

Billy didn’t respond and Maura cleared her throat behind them and said, “Sorry to interrupt, but Will, honey, you have to go get ready. Zack and his mom will be here to pick you up for the movie in a minute. Go brush your teeth and grab your bag, okay?”

“Okay, Mom. Can we play more tomorrow, Jane?”

“Sure, bud.”

Maura smiled at Jane as he left the room to go upstairs but before she could say anything the doorbell rang. She got up and said, “Don’t you go anywhere.” She chatted for a few minutes with Zack’s mother before sending Will off for the night.

Back in the living room Jane had moved to the couch. Maura sat down next to Jane and asked, “How do your hands feel?”

“Fine.”

“That was…beautiful,” Maura said reverently. “Was that the first time you played on this piano?”

Jane nodded.

“I can’t believe you could just start playing like that without playing for so long. It was really amazing, Jane. What made you want to play today?”

“I didn’t know I was going to. I was looking at the piano and Billy came in and we were talking and it just happened.”

“Did you enjoy it?” Maura asked.

“Yeah, I did,” Jane answered as if she was just realizing it herself. “He was talking about learning how to play too so we’ll see what happens. You might be stuck in house full of piano playing.”

“I would love that,” Maura said sincerely. “Stay here, I want to show you something.” 

Maura got up and soon came back carrying several folders. She handed the first one to Jane and said, “The paperwork is all set for you to adopt Will. We have to have lived together for six months before we can file the paperwork, but it’s all set to go so in January we can finalize it.”

“Wow. You already got this all done?”

“It’s pretty straightforward, especially because we’re getting married.”

“You know you don’t have to do this,” Jane said.

“I want to. I have some more information for you to look at too.”

“Okay,” Jane said cautiously. 

Maura handed Jane the rest of the folders. “These cover the basics on adoption agencies. One is about adopting and foster parenting through DCF. The others are agencies that arrange adoptions between families and birth mothers. There are options for open or closed adoptions and there is information for each one about the process we would have to go through to be approved.”

“What’s all this for?”

“It’s information. So we can talk about all of our options. I keep thinking about what you said about us having so much to give and you just said the same thing to Will again. The more I think about it, the more it sounds right to me. I was going to save all of this until after our wedding, but hearing you talk to Will made me want to give it to you today,” Maura explained.

“You want to adopt?” Jane tried to clarify.

“If we decide to have another child, I think I do want to adopt,” Maura answered.

Jane set the folders aside and wrapped her arm around Maura’s shoulders and asked, “Are you sure?” 

“I think so,” Maura answered and snuggled into Jane’s side, resting her head on Jane’s shoulder.

Jane pressed her nose into Maura’s hair and said, “I kinda want that too.”

Maura tilted her face up towards Jane’s for a kiss.

“Um, can we get this wedding planned before we talk more about this though?” Jane asked.

“Yes, please,” Maura agreed. “We have to get that sorted out before we can talk about anything else.”

“Do you want to talk about wedding prep now?” Jane asked. “That’s what we’re supposed to do while Billy is away tonight, right?”

“He’s gone all night, honey. I think first we should go upstairs and enjoy our time alone for a while,” Maura suggested. “Then we should order take-out and open a bottle of wine and make the wedding plans.”

“I can’t argue with that.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once the venue was chosen the rest of the wedding plans seemed relatively easy. They picked a Saturday afternoon in early October, making sure immediate family could attend that day. The rest of the guest list was easy because it was limited to the space available in their backyard. A few extended family members on Jane’s side and their closest friends and colleagues rounded out the list.

The hardest part was deciding who would perform the ceremony. Neither of them wanted any religious element to the ceremony but a random justice of the peace who didn’t know them seemed too impersonal. While researching other options, Maura discovered that in Massachusetts anyone over the age of eighteen can receive a one-day designation to perform a wedding ceremony for a friend or family member. 

The only question for them was which friend or family member to choose. They couldn’t choose among their parents or Jane’s brothers and Maura didn’t have a close friend she would have chosen. When Maura suggested Korsak, Jane immediately agreed. He had been her partner and he had saved her life. He had been her mentor and something close to a father figure, someone she could go to for advice whether it was for work or her personal life, for the past few years. 

When Jane took Korsak out to lunch and asked him if he would perform the ceremony, she was surprised when he got a little choked up while saying he would be honored. He tried to hide his emotion, but Jane noticed and it made her tear up as well. Something about his reaction made her realize the significance of the moment. She was really getting married. Soon all of the preparations would be done and she would be standing in front of family and friends marrying the woman she loved. They both managed to pull themselves together before it got too embarrassing and then shared a laugh at themselves for getting so sentimental.

The big remaining question for Maura and Jane was what other roles people would have in the ceremony. With a small guest list, they didn’t want to end up having more people in the wedding than observing it. Neither felt any need to have a maid of honor or bridesmaids. Maura thought that being walked down the aisle to be given away by her father, or even both parents, was too old fashioned. Jane had consented to having her father at the ceremony but was not willing to give him any role so she thought it would be easier to not have any special role for parents.

In the end they decided to keep everything casual. Guests would arrive and sit down and then Jane and Maura would step outside with Korsak for the brief ceremony and then the party would begin. The most important decision from Maura’s point of view was how to involve Will. Ultimately they decided that he would stand with Korsak as his assistant officiant, which mostly just meant he would hold the rings, but he would get to be with them and be part of the ceremony. 

The only problem with the quick wedding was that there was not enough time for their wedding bands to be made. They went to the jeweler Maura wanted to use and spent an afternoon looking at and discussing designs. But it took another two weeks before they decided on gold to match Maura’s engagement ring, and a design of three gold strands braided together framed by two thicker gold strands. By the time they settled on a design it was too close to the wedding day to have the rings completed in time. 

They were still trying to figure out what to use during the ceremony when Maura’s parents arrived at the house and unexpectedly provided a solution. Upon hearing the dilemma, Constance produced two small boxes from her luggage and handed one to Maura and one to Jane.

“I was going to save these until after the ceremony,” Constance said. “But this seems like the right time. I think these will do for today and you can do whatever you want with them afterwards.”

Maura and Jane both opened their boxes, each of which contained a ring. The one in Maura’s box was a silver ring set with a moderately sized diamond flanked by two small diamonds. In Jane’s box was a gold ring with a ruby stone. “What are these?” Maura asked.

“These rings belonged to my grandmother,” Constance explained. “I wanted to give you both something special to mark this occasion. That one, darling, was her wedding ring. I’m not sure when or how she acquired your ring, Jane, but I thought it suited you.”

“Thank you,” Jane said sincerely. “This was very unexpected.”

Constance smiled awkwardly but then Maura pulled her into a tight hug and said, “Thank you, mother. This means so much to me.”

“I’m very happy for you, Maura.”

“Thank you,” Maura repeated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


As the guests arrived, Jane and Maura went upstairs to change while their mothers played hostesses downstairs. Jane had left the decision about wedding attire up to Maura. Maura put aside her girlhood plans of a wedding dress with a twenty foot train, and she decided white would be silly for both of them. Nothing about their relationship had been very traditional so far and neither would their wedding dresses.

With only a short time before the wedding day getting anything custom made was not an option and alterations would have to be kept to a minimum. With those limitations in mind, and the desire to keep things modest in line with the rest of the day, Maura chose an off the shoulder cobalt blue floor length sheath dress for herself. For Jane, she picked out a crimson dress with a deep v-neck and an a-line silhouette.

When she was finished getting ready, Maura found Jane standing in front of the mirror. She stepped behind her and zipped up the back of her dress and then looked at them both in the mirror. Jane’s hair was pulled up into a french twist, showing off her long neck. Maura traced her fingers against Jane’s neck and then smoothed the dress over Jane’s hips and said, “You look beautiful.”

“Thanks to you,” Jane answered.

“Do you like the dress?”

“If I have to wear a dress, it might as well be for my wedding,” Jane joked. Then seriously, she said, “It’s perfect, of course.”

“Are you nervous?” Maura asked.

“You’re not gonna change your mind and pull a runaway bride are you?”

“No.”

“Then no, I’m not nervous. Are you?”

Maura shook her head and said, “No.”

“Let’s go get married then,” Jane said. 

It was just after four o’clock when Jane and Maura went downstairs. Everyone was sitting in the backyard except Will and Korsak who were waiting in the living room in matching suits Maura had purchased for them. Korsak smiled at Jane but knew better than to say anything about how beautiful she looked. Jane smiled gratefully back at him.

Will, however, said, “Mom, you look awesome.”

“Thank you, sweetheart,” Maura responded and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “You look very handsome. You too, Vince,” she added.

“Ready?” Korsak asked.

“Ready,” both Jane and Maura responded.

The four of them stepped into the backyard. Korsak said a few words and Will presented them with the rings Constance had given them. Jane and Maura each recited the simple vows they had written and put the rings on each other’s fingers. Korsak pronounced them married, they kissed, and then the party began.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The party was still going strong when Maura and Jane snuck away and went upstairs, locking their bedroom door behind them. Jane pulled Maura into her arms and backed her towards the bed, but Maura stopped her from pulling down the zipper on her dress.

“As much as I can’t wait to get that dress off of you, and for you to undress me, I have something to give you first,” Maura said.

Jane released her and Maura took a gift-wrapped box out of her bedside table and handed it to Jane. “What’s this?” Jane asked as they both sat down on the bed.

“A gift for my wife,” Maura responded.

Jane opened the box. Inside was a very expensive looking watch. It was smaller and simpler than the one Maura wore but it was still very elegant. Jane picked it up and turned it over. The back was inscribed with the date. Jane put it on her wrist and then held her arm out to admire it.

“Sexy,” Maura said.

Jane grinned at her and got up to take a box out of her underwear drawer. She passed it to Maura and sat back down beside her. Maura opened the small box and found a necklace with an emerald pendant inside. 

“It’s beautiful,” Maura said. 

Jane took the necklace out of her hands and put it around her neck. “I know you can’t wear your rings a lot of the time while you’re working. This is so you can always wear something from me.”

Maura pulled Jane in to kiss her. 

When they broke apart Jane said, “I love you.”

“I love you more,” Maura responded. She turned her back to Jane and over her shoulder said, “You can unzip me now.”


	31. Chapter 31

 

Maura heard the sound of the doorbell downstairs and then Will's quick footsteps as he ran to get the door. A moment later she heard him call out, "Mom, she's here." She knew that Jane was already downstairs—she and Will had been playing football in the backyard—so Maura took an extra moment to look herself over in the mirror before going downstairs herself.

It was the Monday before Thanksgiving and today would be the real first step in making their intention to adopt official. Two months of discussions and planning since their wedding had led up to this day. There was a long discussion about whether to use an adoption agency or go the foster parenting and adoption route with the Department of Children and Families. That was the most difficult decision to make, but ultimately they decided they were not prepared to go through the foster parenting process knowing that any child placed with them might not stay. Then they investigated adoption agencies in Massachusetts until they found the one that they felt most comfortable with.

Maura smoothed her dress out one more time, took a deep breath, and then went downstairs where she found everyone already sitting in the living room. Jane and their guest stood up when she entered. She extended her hand to the woman from the adoption agency and said, "Hello, I'm Maura. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, Maura. I'm Jennifer. I was just saying to Jane that you have a lovely home."

"Thank you. Can I get you coffee or something else to drink?" Maura asked.

"No, thank you. Jane already offered but I'm fine."

Jane sat back down on the couch and patted the spot next to her for Maura while saying, "We were just chatting about football."

Maura sat down between Jane and Will and laughed and said, "I'm not surprised. It's a popular topic in our house."

"I understand from Will that loyalties are divided in the house between the Patriots and the 49ers. Do have a favorite team, Maura?"

"No, I just enjoy watching with both of them," Maura answered.

"Very diplomatic answer," Jennifer said and then she got down to business. "Well, I know this can be a nerve-wracking experience so the first thing I want to say is that there's no need to be nervous. I'm here to get to know you and explain the steps of the process. I'm not here to judge you. I'm here because you want to adopt a child and I want to make that happen for you. I've read your initial informational statement but I would like to hear from you right now a little about you and your family and why you want to adopt."

Maura looked at Jane and Jane nodded at her to begin. She told the story of her and Will moving to Boston and then meeting Jane and how they began spending time together. She talked about how Jane and Will formed an immediate bond and how her and Jane's friendship evolved into a relationship. She finished by saying, "This past summer we moved into this house and then we got married."

"Some people may say that your relationship has moved pretty fast," Jennifer pointed out.

"I understand why someone might think that, but we've done what has made sense for us," Jane responded. "We've been very careful and deliberate with every decision we've made, especially because our decisions didn't just affect me and Maura, but when we knew we wanted to be together, to be a family, there didn't seem to be any reason to wait."

"Why do you want to adopt a child?" Jennifer asked.

"We want to have another child, to expand our family," Maura answered. "It's something we've been talking about for a while, since our respective ages meant that we would have to make some decisions sooner rather than later. We've discussed and investigated the various possibilities and think adoption makes sense for us."

"So you considered pregnancy using a donor?"

"We did," Maura responded. "It was a viable option but we decided we wanted to go the adoption route."

"We could have tried to have a baby with a donor, but we want to give a kid who needs a home a loving, happy home," Jane said. "When we talked about all of the options for us to have another child, this one felt right for both of us."

"What about you, Will?" Jennifer asked. "What do you think about having a brother or sister?"

"Um…" he said, looking at his Maura for guidance.

"You can be honest, sweetie," Maura said encouragingly.

"I don't know," he said with a shrug. "It might be fun sometimes but it sounds kind of boring to have a baby around. They don't really do anything."

"Fair enough," Jennifer said and smiled at Maura.

"But I want to be a good big brother, and teach them stuff and look out for them," he added.

"That's great," Jennifer said to him. Then to Maura she said, "I have a few more questions that might be more delicate."

"Oh, okay," Maura said. "Will, why don't you go up to your room. I'll let you know when we're done down here, sweetheart."

Once he was out of the room, Jennifer said, "Thanks, I just want to clarify two things and I wasn't sure if they would be appropriate to discuss in front of him. I understand, Jane, that you're going to adopt Will?"

"Yes. As soon as we can file the paperwork in January, we'll make it official," Jane answered.

"What about Will's birth father? Is he in the picture?"

"No," Maura answered. "He gave up his parental rights before Will was born."

"Okay, that answers those questions. There's one factor that I could see coming up as you go through the process. You're a high profile couple," Jennifer said.

"We are?" Jane said with a chuckle.

"Yes. Maura is the Chief Medical Examiner, frequently quoted in newspapers, and she testifies in high profile murder cases. And Jane, you've been honored by the city for your bravery and have worked on a number of cases that have made front page news. Maybe high profile wasn't the right term, but you are public figures."

"And you think that will make a difference in being able to adopt?" Jane asked.

"It's hard to say," Jennifer answered. "Ultimately it is the birth parents who make decisions, not me, but it is something that you should think about and I think be prepared to talk about. My final is question is whether you have thought about whether you would want an open or closed adoption or what degree of openness you would want?"

"As you know from our initial application, I was adopted in a private adoption. I'm not saying that would make me any better than anyone else at being a mother to an adopted child, but I do know what it feels like to wonder about who my birth parents are and why they gave me up for adoption and to not have any way of answering those questions. We discussed this question and we would prefer to have at least some level of openness, but we would also defer to the birth parents wishes."

"Jane, is that your position as well?"

"Yes, definitely," Jane answered. "I think an open adoption would be in the best interest of everyone, but if the birth parents wanted a closed adoption I would respect that decision."

Jennifer made a few notes on the forms she was holding and then said, "Okay, so the next step is for you to write a profile that talks about you and your family and why you want to adopt. This profile will be your introduction to prospective birth parents. I'll leave you some examples to look at, but you can include things like typical family outings and traditions, how you plan on handling a baby with your jobs, and extended family who will be part of the child's life, as well as anything else you think would be relevant about your family. We'll also want pictures. You should gather photos that you want to provide and if needed we will send a photographer to take pictures for you. Any questions about that?"

Both Maura and Jane shook their heads.

"We'll meet again in a couple of weeks and go over what you've prepared, and at that meeting we'll talk more about the specifics of children who are adopted and the things you should be prepared for once a birth mother picks you. In the meantime, the agency will do a background check, which given your jobs shouldn't be an issue, and I will write up what we talked about today. The last thing I would like to do today, unless you have any more questions, is get a tour of your home."

Both Maura and Jane stood, and having no questions, they took Jennifer on a tour of the house. Then when she left, they started talking about what should be in their profile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanksgiving was held at Angela's house again. This year both Tommy and Frankie invited the women they were dating and the house was fuller and livelier than it had been the year before when Maura and Will made their first trip to Angela's house and Tommy had just returned home.

Maura noticed over the course of the afternoon and dinner that Jane was so much more relaxed this year. Eventually she came to the conclusion that it was because this year she wasn't there just as Jane's friend and they weren't in the awkward period before they started dating. They were married and happy and working on plans to expand their family, although they were keeping that detail to themselves for now.

Maura watched Angela corner Tommy and Frankie with whispered questions and listened to her grill their girlfriends about their families and jobs over dinner and realized that Jane must have been subjected to the same treatment at last year's meal, before they were even dating, and she thought she understood why Jane would have been more reserved last Thanksgiving.

After the meal, everyone moved to the living room for dessert and to watch the football game on television. When Will and Tommy got involved in playing a chess rematch, Maura slipped away from her seat on the couch next to Will and made her way to the foot of the stairs. Jane was drinking a beer and watching the game, but it wasn't long before she looked around for Maura. Maura gave her a flirtatious grin and pointed upstairs before heading up, knowing Jane would be following behind her.

"What do you think you're doing?" Jane asked playfully when she caught up to Maura in her old bedroom and Maura closed the door behind them.

"Sneaking off from a family meal with my beautiful wife. I have some unfinished business in here," Maura said, dropping her voice into a sultry tone as she backed Jane up to the bed until Jane sat down on it.

Jane's hands circled Maura's waist and she pulled her in between her legs. She looked up at Maura's smiling face and said, "I love you. Are we going to sneak off like this when we're at your parents' condo for Christmas too?"

"Absolutely." Maura bent down and pressed her lips to Jane's. She tipped Jane's head back, sliding her fingers into her hair, as they finally shared the kiss that had been interrupted a year ago.

Jane tried to pull Maura onto her lap but she slipped out of her grasp and went over to the set of shelves along the wall to look at the pictures she had seen the previous year. "Are you sure you don't want to tell your family about the adoption plans?"

"We can tell them soon. I'd prefer to get a little further along in the process. And why not let Ma focus on Tommy and Frankie for a little while? We don't need to steal all of the attention," Jane said with a grin.

Maura picked up a picture of Jane from a high school field hockey game and held it up towards Jane. "Do you think we could take a few of these pictures home with us? I'd like to put them in our house, maybe in our bedroom."

"I guess. I'm sure Ma has doubles of all of them anyway. Why do you want them?" Jane asked.

"It's silly," Maura said with a shy smile. "But it makes me feel closer to you. I didn't get to know you as a kid or as a teenager, but part of me wishes I had. Do you know what I mean?"

Jane looked at her thoughtfully and after a moment said softly, "Yeah. I think so. Like the pictures of you when you were pregnant. I liked being able to see those. Do your parents' have pictures of you from your childhood?"

For a brief moment, Maura remembered the pictures of her as a child that Paddy Doyle had shown her, but nodding, she said, "I think there should be at least a few somewhere. I went to boarding school remember, so my parents weren't there to take pictures as much, but there should be some. I can ask my mother to send us what she has," she suggested.

"Yeah, I'd like that," Jane said. Jane grabbed the picture that was still in Maura's hands and looked at it before saying, "Do you think teenage you would have been in to teenage me?"

"Absolutely," Maura answered. She moved onto the bed next to Jane and lay down on her back, bending one arm behind her head.

Jane laughed at Maura's decisive answer, but then frowned as she lay down next to Maura, folding her hands over her stomach. "I'm not sure if I could have handled you in high school."

"What does that mean?" Maura said incredulously.

"It's just that back then, with you being so smart and I'm sure just as beautiful as you are now, I would have been very self-conscious around you," Jane explained. "Then add your family's wealth on top of that and I probably would have been super intimidated."

Maura swallowed, looking up at the ceiling and feeling ridiculous that she could feel tears threatening to form in her eyes.

Jane turned to look at her when she didn't respond and reached out to take Maura's hand. "Hey, I totally would have had a huge crush on you. I just would have been too nervous to actually talk to you." When Maura still didn't respond, Jane asked, "What are you upset about?"

Maura shook her head. "I'm being silly again. But it makes me sad to think you would have seen me the way the other kids and my classmates always did. I was smart but I was very shy and I think other kids must have read that shyness as me being, I don't know, stuck-up or a snob. I don't want to think that we could have missed out on each other for that reason if we had met at a different time."

Now Jane shook her head and said, "We wouldn't have missed out. I'm sure of it."

"No?"

"No, something would have happened to bring us together," Jane said firmly.

"Like what?"

"Well…um," Jane said while thinking. She picked up the picture of her playing field hockey again and looked at it. "So, obviously if we were in high school together I would have been the star field hockey player. But I wouldn't do well in all of my classes and I'd be in danger of failing my, um…biology test before the big game."

Maura smiled at Jane's proposed scenario. "Of course with my expertise in biology I would offer to tutor you so you wouldn't miss the big game."

"And you'd discover that I'm more of a hands-on learner," Jane said, dropping her voice seductively.

"Oh, is that true Jane Rizzoli?" Maura asked playfully.

Jane rolled on to her side so she could look at Maura. "Yeah, you would be trying to teach me the material and I just wouldn't be getting it, so you would have to try a different approach."

"I would be the one to decide that we should try a different approach?" Maura said.

"Well, yeah. I would be nervous and awkward and not grasping anything you were telling me. And I think you'd realized that you would have to be the one to make a move. So you would suggest a more practical lesson."

"Mmmm, I like this scenario," Maura said, rolling over to face Jane. "Human anatomy is my area of expertise you know. Is that the subject we're studying?"

"Of course it is."

"Here's your first lesson." Maura took one of Jane's hands and put it on her breast over her shirt and then arched her back into the touch.

"But Maura, we're in my house. My mother is right downstairs," Jane said in a mock serious voice.

Maura wanted to laugh but she managed to maintain a mostly straight face and said, "Shut up and kiss me, Jane."


	32. Chapter 32

Jane and Will sat on the living room floor, game controllers in hand. Maura had long ago given up trying to keep up with him. Jane was still trying though. His fingers worked the buttons and thumb sticks furiously while she fumbled along as best as she could.  They were playing a racing game where they got to pick and modify their cars before going head to head on various courses. He always won, with whatever video game they played, but Jane didn’t mind because it meant she never felt like she needed to go easy on him when they played chess.

“Jane?” Will said in the midst of a race.

“Yeah?” Jane said as tried to not crash her car.

“I don’t think I want you to call me Billy anymore,” he said.

Jane’s attention was thrown long enough that she did actually crash the car. “Oh. Okay. Any particular reason why?” she asked out of curiosity.

“I think Billy is more of a little kid’s name,” he responded. “I’m turning twelve so I’m older now.”

“Alright,” Jane said to his answer, despite its questionable logic. “So should I call you Will now?”

“Yes,” he answered firmly.

“Well, I might forget sometimes and still call you Billy since I’m so used to it, but I’ll try to remember and you can remind me if I mess up. Are you going to tell your friends to call you Will too?” Jane asked.

“Probably.”

Will’s birthday was coming up and it was important to both Maura and Jane that they celebrated with whatever he wanted. It had been a year full of change and there had been a lot going on in the past few months with the wedding and now the focus on adopting another child, so they wanted to make sure he didn’t feel overlooked. With that in mind, Jane asked, “Have you had any thoughts on what you want to do for your birthday?”

After a moment he answered, “I was thinking about laser tag.”

“Hmm. Have you mentioned that to your mom?”

“Not yet,” Will said.

Jane was aware that laser tag could be a hard sell. Maura wasn’t a fan of any activities that were violent or mimicked shooting guns. She didn’t let him have any of the popular video games that involved any violence. Jane didn’t necessarily disagree with that position, but she was also aware that because of her career she had a more complicated relationship with guns. Will knew that Jane had a gun but discussion of it was kept to a minimum and at home the gun was locked up in a gun safe in her dresser in the bedroom, a location that was kept secret from him. “You know she might not like that idea?” she said cautiously to him.

“I know, but it’s not real shooting or anything. It’s not like paintball or other shooting games. It’s more like a computer game. Can you ask her for me?” Will said.

Jane snorted a laugh. “Are you sure that’s your first choice?”

“Yes,” he answered.

“Alright. I’ll talk to your mom, but I can’t make any promises, so you better have a backup plan too. How many friends do you want to invite?”

“Maybe six or seven,” he answered.

Jane nodded. “Okay, we’ll see.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


That night when Jane and Maura were alone in the living room after Will went to bed, Jane said, “So, remember when you were hoping that the name Billy would be a phase?”

“Yes,” Maura answered warily.

“Your wish may be coming true,” Jane said teasingly.

“What do you mean?”

“He told me to call him Will. He said Billy is more of a little kid’s name.”

“Oh, that’s sweet, but maybe also a little frightening. I don’t really need any reminder that he’s growing up. I think he’s grown two inches since the start of the school year. We’re going to have to get him new clothes again over Christmas break.”

“He also had an idea for his birthday party,” Jane said. “But I don’t think you’re going to like it.”

“What is it?” Maura asked warily.

“Laser tag,” Jane answered.

“Did he ask you to talk to me about it?”

“Well…yes. But I did ask him first if he knew what he wanted to do.”

Maura sighed and asked, “What do you think about it?” 

“I think that he had a good point about laser tag. It’s not like paintball where you actually shoot things at each other. It’s more like a video game.”

“I don’t let him play video games that involve shooting.”

“You don’t let him have those video games. He could be playing them with his friends,” Jane pointed out.

“So you think that I should let him do this?”

Jane grimaced, not liking being put between Maura and Will on any issue, before answering, “I understand your position. I think there’s too much violence in entertainment for kids. I think movies and video games can trivialize killing and that can be bad for kids to watch. But I also know that boys can turn anything into a pretend gun or other weapon. Frankie and Tommy pretended to shoot each other pretty much non-stop when we were kids. I don’t know what that means, but to me laser tag seems on the low end of the violent games scale.”

“What if his friends’ parents think we’re awful people for inviting their kids to play laser tag?” Maura asked.

“I have no idea,” Jane said. “But wouldn’t you let him go to a friend’s birthday party even it wasn’t your first choice of activity?”

“As long as it wasn’t dangerous, I wouldn’t say no,” Maura acknowledged. She thought for a moment before saying, “Okay, tell him we can do laser tag.”

“I think you should tell him,” Jane said. “He knows how you feel about shooting games and I don’t want him to think you’re upset about this.”

“I wish he wanted to do something else, but I’m not upset. You’re right though, I don’t want him to think I’m not on board with his birthday plans. I’ll let him know we can do laser tag.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


On the Saturday after his birthday, Will and seven friends plus Maura, Jane, Frankie, Tommy, and Angela went to the laser tag center. Frankie and Tommy predictably wanted to come so they could play. Angela, who decided she had twelve years of grandmother duties to catch up on, took over as many planning duties as Maura would let her, including making food and a cake for the party. 

Maura had to admit that Will did have a good point, laser tag was like playing a video game in a lot of ways. It wasn’t just running around shooting people, there were all kinds of game modes that gave different players different abilities while they played and all of the kids were having fun figuring things out and playing and getting their scores.

While the kids played their second game, Jane decided she and Maura should team up against Frankie and Tommy. Maura protested at first that she should really watch the kids but Jane convinced her that she absolutely had to play at least one game. Plus, Angela was happy to keep watch, Jane argued.

The actual details of the game—shooting, scoring, winning—held little appeal for Maura. But when she started playing, Maura was swept up in Jane’s childlike excitement and did find herself getting into the strategy Jane laid out for going after Frankie and Tommy. Jane thought her brothers would split up and try to attack them from two sides and she suggested that they also split up. Jane would look like she was trying to wait for them to approach from an ineffective position and when the guys converged on her, Maura would appear from a more hidden location to surprise them. 

The plan sort of worked, but in the end they all ended up basically in circle shooting at each other until they were all out of energy and the game reset. Maura, with only the lightest of protests, let Jane and Will talk her into playing another game with the whole group of kids. After a while, Maura let herself be cornered by a few of the kids until she was knocked out of the game, and she spent the remainder of the time watching Jane and Will play against each other

That night, after the full day of laser tag, birthday cake, and keeping up with eight eleven and twelve year old boys during the course of the day, Jane and Maura were finally able to sit down on the couch together after Will went to bed. Maura curled into Jane’s side and Jane asked, “Should I find something to watch on tv?”

“No,” Maura answered. “I’m ready for quiet.”

Jane laughed as she wrapped her arm around Maura’s shoulders. 

“I did have fun today,” Maura said as she rested her head against Jane’s shoulder.

“Me too.”

“Thank you.”

Jane looked down at Maura in confusion. “What are you thanking me for?”

“Making sure I had fun and didn’t just watch like I would have if you hadn’t been there,” Maura answered.

“Admit it, you liked playing laser tag,” Jane teased.

“I did like playing with you,” Maura said. “I liked seeing you come up with our strategy. It was kind of like when I get to really see you work, when you’re doing your detective thing and going after the bad guys.”

“My detective thing, huh? You like that?”

“I do. It’s very sexy. And…I have to admit, I kind of liked having you boss me around too.”

“I wasn’t bossing you around,” Jane protested. “I was just telling you the strategy I thought would work.”

Maura only chuckled softly in response. 

They sat in peaceful silence for a few minutes, Jane absentmindedly running her fingers through Maura’s hair, until Maura got up and repositioned herself so she was straddling Jane’s lap.

“What are you doing? Jane asked.

Maura grinned and responded, “I have my own strategy now.”

Jane tried to say “You do?” but was stopped by Maura’s lips on her own and she gave in to the kiss while sliding her hands up Maura’s thighs. When Maura moved her lips to Jane’s neck and slipped her hands under Jane’s shirt she said, “So what’s your plan?”

In between wet kisses to Jane’s neck, Maura said, “We’re going to go upstairs to the bedroom where I’m going to kiss every inch of skin on your entire body. Then I’m going to do your favorite thing.”

Jane unconsciously licked her lips and asked honestly, “What’s my favorite thing?”

Maura pressed her cheek against Jane’s and whispered in her ear, “I’m going to make you come in my mouth.”

In response, Jane closed her eyes and her fingers dug into Maura’s legs. “Then what do I get to do to you?” she asked softly.

“Whatever you want,” Maura answered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next weekend was their final adoption meeting before they would officially be approved by the agency as possible adoptive parents. In the few weeks since the last meeting, Maura, Will, and Jane had together put together pictures they liked for their family album. Several pictures were from their wedding day and others were candids that Angela took at Thanksgiving and on Will’s birthday. Maura picked up a few pictures of her and Will when he was younger. Then there were pictures of Jane and Will that Maura had taken at various times on her phone. Many were taken surreptitiously when Jane and Will were doing something together like playing baseball and football. It was the first time Jane saw some of the pictures and she realized that some were taken before she and Maura even started dating. 

Maura and Jane also spent time writing their letter to prospective birth mothers. The letter would introduce them to birth mothers who would be considering them as adoptive parents. Together they wrote about their backgrounds, their jobs, and how they met and started their relationship. They wrote about their own families and how their own experiences shaped their thoughts and plans for their family. Maura talked about being adopted herself and raising Will on her own and wanting to have another child with Jane.

They also each wrote briefly about each other.

About Jane, Maura wrote:

_I think I initially fell in love with Jane because of how she treated my son. When Will and I moved across the country to Boston, Jane was one of the first people we met and she generously spent her free time playing with him whenever he asked. Jane always treats Will like a person, not a child, and I feel endlessly fortunate that she shows me the same love and care that she has given him._

_Jane is my friend and partner in every sense of the word. She is kind and loyal and compassionate. Her family and friends know the strength of her commitment to not only them, but to the health and safety of everyone she comes into contact with in her job. Any child we are fortunate enough to adopt will be as lucky as Will and I have been to be on the receiving end of Jane’s love and attention._

Jane wrote:

_Maura is the most generous and kind person I have ever met and I knew from the first week we met that I would be lucky to be a part of her life in whatever way I could. As our initial friendship grew into more, I knew that Maura was the only person I could imagine spending my life with. I learn something new from her every day and I look forward to learning and growing with her as we go through this experience together._

_Maura is a wonderful mother and I have learned so much from her about what it means to be a parent and to have a family. Will shares all of Maura’s intelligence and kindness and makes friends wherever he goes. He will be a great big brother. Maura and Will opened their home and hearts to me and welcomed me into their family just as we will all welcome another kid into our family and love him or her unconditionally._

Maura and Jane sat at their dining room table with Jennifer from the adoption agency while she looked through the materials they put together and then they talked about what would happen next. Jennifer explained that Maura and Jane’s pictures and letter would be available for birth mothers to look at. If any birth mother was interested in them, they would be able to set up a phone call through the agency and then meet if both parties want to do that. If a birth mother choose them for adoption, the amount of contact before, during, and after the birth would be negotiated between them. 

When Jennifer asked if they had any more questions, Maura asked, “What can we do to make sure the baby and mother get appropriate prenatal care?” 

“Often the birth mothers are already getting all the care they need,” Jennifer answered. “These are women who want the best for the baby and that’s why they are going through this process with our agency. But, you can discuss their health care needs with them as well and I’ll help with that. But I’ll also caution you to not go overboard. We want the birth mother to get appropriate and necessary care but not more than she or the baby needs.”

“That makes sense,” Jane said. “Can we pay for medical care or other expenses?”

“There are certain things you can and can’t pay for depending on the state the birth mother lives in and what her needs are. We can figure out what’s appropriate when a birth mother chooses you,” Jennifer explained. When there were no more questions, Jennifer said, “Congratulations, by tomorrow morning you will officially be eligible to be adoptive parents.”

Jane took hold of Maura’s hand under the table and squeezed while she said, “So now we just wait?”

“Now you wait,” Jennifer said.


	33. Chapter 33

Two days before Christmas, Maura, Jane, and Will took the morning Amtrak train to New York City. They would have a day and a half in the city just the three of them before Maura’s parents arrived for dinner on Christmas Eve.

Jane left it up to Maura whether she wanted to discuss their adoption plans with her parents and Maura’s response was that she didn’t want to tell them anything until things were more definite. For the first week after they were officially registered as possible adoptive parents, every time the phone rang each of them jumped at the phone, thinking it could be the adoption agency. Now a week later, they agreed to try to relax and not stress or even talk about adoption, and just have fun while on vacation.

For Jane, this trip was a glimpse into the life she knew Maura had previously lived but couldn’t quite imagine her in. She knew how elegant and refined Maura could be, but she was more used to seeing Maura relaxed at home playing with Will. It seemed like a different person who would have walked the streets of New York City while living in a  Manhattan condo with a doorman and square footage larger than the house Jane grew up in.

The afternoon they arrived it was Will’s choice of activity and he picked the Central Park Zoo. They stayed there until the zoo closed and then went to pick out a Christmas tree. Jane didn’t say anything when Maura paid double what she was used to paying for a Christmas tree stacked in rows in a city park instead of one cut down by themselves from a farm outside of Boston. But Jane drew the line at then having someone deliver the tree, insisting that she and Will could carry it back to the condo and set it up themselves. 

They spent that evening eating Chinese take out and decorating the tree. The next day they walked around Manhattan with Maura and Will acting as tour guides for Jane. They made Maura and Will’s usual trip to see the tree at Rockefeller Center and then went to the holiday market at Columbus Circle, where they briefly split up, Will staying with Jane and Maura going off alone, so they could pick out presents for each other.

“Do you miss living here?” Jane asked Maura as they walked back to the condo. It was a cold day and they were bundled up in hats and scarves. Maura’s gloved hand was linked around Jane’s arm. All day they had been surrounded by masses of people moving through the city. After only a day and a half here Jane was finding it hard to imagine living here without being constantly overwhelmed, but Maura seemed totally unfazed by it.

Maura thought seriously for a moment before answering, “That’s a complicated question. I miss some parts of it, but if I lived here I would have never met you.”

“Okay, but if I told you we could move anywhere in the country, would you choose here?” Jane reframed her question.

“I don’t think so. It’s too crowded and too busy for me now. I’ve gotten used to a more relaxed pace.”

“Good,” Jane said. “Because I’m exhausted after only two days here. I can’t imagine living here.”

On Christmas Eve Maura’s parents arrived and they all went out for their usual Christmas Eve dinner. After returning home from dinner, Constance asked Jane to come with her to her study. Jane followed Constance and sat down on the couch in the room when she motioned towards it. Constance took a box off of her desk and set it on the floor in front of Jane before sitting next to her.

“Maura told me that you were interested in seeing pictures from her childhood,” Constance said.

“I am,” Jane. “I have to admit, I imagined looking at them with Maura,” she added with an awkward laugh.

“I thought this would be a good way for us to spend time together, just the two of us.” Constance picked up a photo album from the box and put it in Jane’s lap. 

Jane opened the album and started turning through the pages. There were pictures of a sleeping baby bundled in blankets. In some, a much younger Constance was holding the baby. “This is Maura?” she asked.

“Yes.”

Jane continued looking through the photos. There were obvious gaps in time where Maura would age six months or more in the photographs. She slowed to study the pictures more closely when she reached pictures in which Maura looked to be about four. At this age the resemblance to Maura now was now obvious. She had the same eyes and smile that she did as an adult. There was an obvious resemblance to Will too. 

Jane didn’t realize she was smiling at the pictures until Constance said, “You’re enjoying this.”

Jane smiled wider and said, “She always wore dresses, huh?”

Constance chuckled and answered, “She had a well developed fashion sense even at that young age.”

“She was adorable,” Jane said, almost reverently.

“May I ask why you wanted to see these pictures?” Constance asked.

Jane felt a flutter in her stomach as she tried to formulate a response that could explain the feeling seeing these pictures of Maura gave her. “It makes me feel closer to Maura, just getting even a glimpse of her as a kid and seeing at least a little bit of how she became the woman she is today. Do you know what I mean?”

“You love her very much,” Constance responded.

“Of course I do,” Jane said plainly. She turned back to the photos and turned the page. “Can you tell me more about some of the photos?” she asked, sliding half of the photo album across Constance’s lap so they could together.

They went through the rest of the album together, with Constance giving information about the details of pictures when she could remember them. Then Constance pulled out other mementos from the box: plaques, ribbons, and certificates for academic honors, graduation programs, report cards, and a few random pieces of school work. 

Jane looked at all of them, especially appreciating teachers’ written remarks about Maura. They talked about her being shy and quiet, more likely to read a book by herself than join in other activities, but also extremely intelligent and kind with a keen sense of fairness and justice. 

“You know,” Constance said after they had looked through everything in the box, “you’re not exactly who I thought Maura would end up with, and it’s not for the reasons you may initially think.”

Jane didn’t respond, instead waiting to see what Constance would say.

“Maura had a couple of serious relationships before she had William. At least that I know of anyway, maybe there were others that I never met. I didn’t think it was really my place to say anything to Maura, but I didn’t like those boyfriends very much despite their attempts to impress me and my husband. Maura dated people who I think viewed her as a sort of prize they could win, a reflection of their own status or accomplishments. They were never going to make her happiness their priority and I didn’t think they deserved her. You’re different though. I like you, Jane. I’m happy Maura married you.”

Jane managed to say, “Thank you.” Embarrassed by the tears stinging her eyes, Jane tried to surreptitiously wipe them away.

Constance sensed Jane’s embarrassment and said, “Why don’t I pack up this box and I’ll ship it to your house in Boston so you can have these things. Sometime you can look through them with Maura.”

Jane swallowed thickly and nodded in thanks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two days after Christmas, Jane, Maura, and Will boarded a plane for San Francisco where they would stay until New Year’s day. When talking about what they might want to do over Will’s Christmas break, Maura realized that aside from their ski trip to Vermont, Jane and her hadn’t been anywhere outside the state of Massachusetts together and they began talking about possible vacation destinations.

Maura was a well seasoned traveler, splitting her childhood between two continents and living in Africa for two years. She was going on airplanes by herself by the time she was Will’s age and hardly ever went more than six months without traveling somewhere. Since Will was born, she had cut back but they still traveled every year. She took him to New York City for Christmas most years and twice they went to Europe—once to England when he was only a toddler and to France when he was six. Other than that they tended to take vacations in California or other west coast states. He was now at the age that Maura imagined she would begin to take Will on more serious trips, taking extended vacations across Europe, or South America, or to Japan and China, or maybe Southeast Asia and Australia. 

Jane had changed some of those plans. Travel wasn’t as enticing when they were busy making their new home together and now preparing for the possibility of a new baby. Now she still wanted to bring Will to new places, but she also wanted to bring Jane places that had been important in her life and in Will’s as well. She learned so much about Jane simply by being able to visit and see places and things from her childhood around Boston and she wanted to be able to do the same.

Plus Maura knew, although Jane didn’t admit it, that Jane wasn’t as comfortable with the idea of world travel as she was. The only real traveling Jane had done in her life was a school field trip to Washington, D.C., a family vacation to Disney World, and a trip with friends after high school graduation to Montreal. When Maura brought up the idea of the three of them taking a trip to Europe before they had a baby, Jane’s response was that she would have to get a passport, something that Maura had not previously considered she would not have. So this year Maura proposed that after spending a few days in Manhattan they take a vacation to San Francisco and Jane agreed.

Maura and Will had lived in Pacific Heights, but for the vacation they stayed at a hotel near the tourist attractions at Fisherman’s Wharf. They spent one day they walking around the tourist attractions at the piers and then to Coit Tower for a full view of the city and the Bay—things that Maura and Will rarely did when they lived there. 

The next day Maura took them by their old house in Pacific Heights and they walked around the neighborhood and ate lunch at one of Will’s favorite spots. Jane got to see Will’s old school and the other places they used to spend their time together. Maura took them on a drive through the Presidio and then to Lands End where they walked on trails with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge. That evening they went out to Maura’s old favorite restaurant for dinner.

Their final day in the city they went to Golden Gate Park where they walked around the botanical garden and then went to the California Academy of Sciences for a few hours. Then Maura drove them over the Golden Gate bridge and north to Sonoma County where they were going to spend two nights. 

In the morning they drove to the coast to Point Reyes where they went hiking to the beach and watched for migrating gray whales. In the afternoon they went back to Sonoma to go wine tasting at Maura’s favorite winery. Even Jane found a wine she enjoyed, although she balked at purchasing a bottle for later when she saw the cost. While Jane and Will walked around the vineyard, Maura arranged for a case of the wine to be sent to their home.

In Sonoma, Maura had arranged for them to stay in two bedroom suite at their hotel. Her and Jane’s room had a bathroom with a jacuzzi tub. They all stayed up to ring in the new year together. While Maura settled Will in bed, Jane filled the jacuzzi. Maura brought in a bottle of sparkling wine and they celebrated the new year in their own way.

New Year’s day was their last day of vacation and they drove south of San Francisco to Santa Cruz. It wasn’t hot but it was warm and sunny enough to go to the beach and enjoy the sun. Jane and Maura sat on the warm sand while Will ran around testing the water temperature and looking for shells. 

Jane lay down using her backpack as a pillow and said, “I can see now why someone would leave New England for California. This is a nice way to spend a day in the middle of winter.”

“We could buy a vacation home out here,” Maura said. “On the beach somewhere or really anywhere you wanted.”

“We could?” Jane said in amusement.

“Sure.” Maura answered with a shrug.

Jane frowned. “I don’t know. I never imagined myself as the vacation home type of person.”

“Why not?”

“Well, mostly because of the cost. But also because it would require taking a lot of vacations to require an actual vacation home. We can’t just fly off to California or anywhere else whenever we want.”

“You’re taking a vacation now and we’re going to keep taking vacations. You have a family now, Jane. You can’t work all the time anymore,” Maura said gently. “But it doesn’t have to be far away. We could get a house on the Cape and go there on weekends in the summer. Your mother and brothers could use it too.”

“Will, where do you want to go on our next vacation?” Jane called out.

“Alaska,” he yelled back.

“I guess we shouldn’t invest in a vacation home anywhere specific yet,” Jane said dryly.

Maura lay down as well, using Jane’s stomach as a pillow and took hold of Jane’s hand. “You do know that you can have anything you want though, Jane,” she said quietly after a while. “I mean, financially, we can afford it. I know we agreed to keep Christmas presents small between us, but if there is anything you ever need or want you can get it.”

“I have everything I could ever possible need or want,” Jane responded.

“I’m being serious,” Maura said.

“So am I,” Jane said. “I’ve got you and Will. Maybe one day we’ll have another baby. I don’t need anything else.”

“Well, if there ever is anything, it’s yours,” Maura added.


	34. Chapter 34

 

After returning home after New Year’s life seemed to settle down for Jane, Maura, and Will, and they relaxed into their routine of work and school and family life while fighting off the chill of winter. Only when things settled down did Maura realize how much they had really done in the past six months. 

They had moved and gotten married. She had thought seriously about and investigated getting pregnant again and they had gone through the process of getting accepted as potential adoptive parents. During the first week of the new year, Jane’s adoption of Will had been finalized, which they had only marked in a small celebration with just the three of them since it was really just a formality at that point. 

In the back of both Jane and Maura’s minds every day was the question of if and when they were going to hear from the adoption agency again, but they continued with their holiday agreement to not talk about it until the call actually came.

In the evenings when Jane came home at a reasonable hour they made a fire in the living room fireplace. Sometimes they could get Will to sit with them and sometimes he would disappear to his room after dinner. A few times Will and Jane played the piano. He hadn’t committed to going all in on lessons, but he did like to just have her show him how to play simple tunes and for them to goof around together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Super Bowl Sunday, Jane stood downstairs and yelled up to Will, “Will, come on. Frankie’s waiting outside.” They were going to her mother’s house for the game, a tradition that had been established thirteen years earlier when the Patriots won their first Super Bowl. They would have an early family dinner and then watch the game. 

Maura was called in to work that morning and was going to join them when she could. Hopefully she would get out of work and to Angela’s house before the snow started falling from the major snowstorm arriving that evening. They were all bringing extra clothes and pajamas with the plan that they would end up spending the night after the game. Because of the snow storm Will’s school was already cancelled for the next day and Jane and Maura wouldn’t have to go in unless they were called to a homicide, so there was no rush to get home that night.  

Will came running down the stairs carrying two Patriots jerseys and said to Jane, “I can’t decide which one to wear.”

“Well, pick one or take them both with us because we’ve gotta go.”

He took another moment to think and then tossed the Brady jersey on a nearby chair, electing to wear Edelman for the day. With the San Francisco 49ers having a poor season, Will’s allegiance had swung more firmly towards the Patriots during the past few months. It helped that both of Jane’s brothers gave him Patriots jerseys for Christmas. It also helped that the Patriots were playing the 49ers’ biggest rival, the Seattle Seahawks, in the Super Bowl. 

“Did you pack your bag?” Jane asked.

“Oh yeah. It’s upstairs,” he answered.

“Go get it, then,” Jane said, rolling her eyes as he turned away.

As he ran back upstairs he yelled back at Jane, “Did you pack everything Mom wanted you to bring for her?”

“Of course, I’ve got it all,” Jane answered. “Just get your stuff and then we can go.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


Maura arrived near the end of the first quarter of the game. After greeting everyone else she leaned down behind Jane and said softly into her ear, “Jane, can we talk upstairs for a minute?”

“Maur, it’s the Super Bowl,” Jane responded incredulously. 

“Please,” Maura pleaded.

Jane swiveled around to really look at her wife for the first time since she had arrived. Seeing the worried and nervous expression on Maura’s face, Jane nodded and followed her upstairs where Maura led her to her old bedroom.

“What’s up?” Jane asked gently, closing the door behind them.

Maura sat down on Jane’s old bed that still remained in the room and bit her bottom lip.  She absentmindedly twisted the wedding band on her left hand but didn’t immediately respond.

Jane narrowed her eyes in concern. “You’re starting to worry me. What’s going on? What happened?”

Maura took a deep breath before saying, “It’s not bad. It’s just…I’m not sure how you’re going to respond.”

Jane sat down next to Maura on the bed and took hold of one of Maura’s hands between both of hers. She didn’t say anything then, just waited for Maura to speak.

After another few moments Maura said, “When I was getting ready to leave my office, I got a phone call. After another pause she added, “From the adoption agency.”

“And?” Jane prodded.

“There’s a baby and the planned adoption fell through. The birth mother is interested in us.”

“Do you mean there’s an actual already-born baby?” Jane tried to clarify.

“Yes. The baby was born prematurely and is in the NICU, the neonatal intensive care unit, at Brigham and Women’s. The adoptive parents decided at the last moment that they didn’t want to go through with the adoption. I think they may have decided they weren’t ready when the baby was born prematurely, but I’m not really sure on the details. The birth mother saw our profile and she likes us. She wants us to have the baby.”

Jane opened her mouth for a moment without saying anything. Finally she asked, “Is it a boy or a girl?”

“A boy.”

“Um, what does it mean that he’s in the NICU?”

“I don’t know his exact details. I didn’t want to ask too many questions until I talked to you. Premature babies often need extra warmth because they don’t have enough body fat, so they have to stay in an incubator a lot of the day,” Maura explained, slipping into doctor mode. “And they need extra food and help with digestion so they often need a feeding tube for a while. But with the right medical care he can be perfectly healthy. He just won’t be able to come home for a few weeks.”

“What if he isn’t healthy? What if he has other medical problems?” Jane asked.

Maura shrugged slightly and pressed a hand against Jane’s arm. “We’ll take care of him and get him the best medical care possible.”

After another moment of thinking Jane said, “How do you feel about having another boy?”

“We said we didn’t care if it was a boy or a girl.”

“I don’t care,” Jane responded.

Maura shook her head and said, “Me neither.”

Jane jumped up off the bed then in a burst of nervous energy and paced across the room. “This is crazy,” she said. “We’re supposed to have months to prepare for a baby, not days. We don’t have a room ready. We don’t have any supplies at all. I have no idea what to do with a baby. I’ve been trying not to worry about all of these things until there was actually a baby on the way because I didn’t want to get my hopes up too much and now we’re being thrown right into it. Do you think we can we really do this?”

Maura smiled and nodded. “The thing I learned when I had Will was that there is no way to really be prepared, no matter how much you try to plan ahead of time or how many books you read. You can’t prepare for what it’s actually like to have a baby. But I have done this before. I know a few things. And this time we’ll have each other.”

Jane stopped her pacing and stood in front of Maura. “Do you want to do this? Do you want this baby?”

Downstairs everyone watching the game erupted into cheers, but the sound wasn’t noticed by either woman. “I think that this baby is meant for us,” Maura said resolutely. 

Jane smiled softly at Maura. “I’ve never heard you say something like that before, that something was meant to be. Do you really think that?”

Maura nodded again. “I don’t mean that I think it’s fate or some sort of cosmic or divine intervention. I just mean that we are in a position to take the best care of him possible. For whatever reason the original adoptive parents couldn’t, but we can. I don’t think we were in the agency’s system when the birth mother was first choosing an adoptive family. But we are available now and she chose us.”

“This is crazy,” Jane repeated, shaking her head in disbelief. 

“We still have to meet with the mother and the agency. Nothing is settled yet,” Maura pointed out. “We don’t have to go through with it if it isn’t the right fit.”

“But we could have a baby in a few days,” Jane said.

“Yes.”

“We have get supplies and change our work schedules, and do like a million other things.”

“Yes,” Maura repeated.

“We’re gonna do it, right?” Jane said after a moment of silence.

Maura smiled, a grin that grew bigger and bigger, while tears filled her eyes.

Jane bent down and kissed Maura’s lips. She wiped the tears away from Maura’s eyes with her thumbs and then kissed her again before saying, “You were worried I wouldn’t say yes. That I wouldn’t be ready. That’s why you were nervous when you got here,” she said, more a statement than a question.

“Yes, I was nervous about that,” Maura answered. “But honey, I wasn’t sure that I was ready until I started telling you all of the details. I had all of the same fears as you when I got the phone call from the agency. But once I got here and saw you, I just knew that we could raise this baby.”

Jane moved in to kiss Maura again and this time Maura fell back on the bed and pulled Jane with her. Their lips met again and Jane pressed her thigh between Maura’s legs before they were interrupted by cheering and yelling from downstairs.

“Jane!” Frankie called from downstairs. “It’s almost halftime. You’re missing everything. The Patriots just took the lead, but Seattle is driving down the field again.”

“We’ll be down in an minute,” Jane yelled back. She looked down at Maura and chuckled. “Should we go tell everyone?” she asked.

“No,” Maura answered. “Let them enjoy the game without our interference. We’ll tell everyone tomorrow morning. We’re going to end up staying here anyway tonight so we’ll tell them before we leave tomorrow. I’ll tell Will first thing in the morning and then we can tell the rest of your family.”

“I’m good with that plan,” Jane agreed. “But we probably should go watch the game now before they really start wondering what we’re doing up here.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Downstairs, Maura and Jane squeezed onto the couch between Will and Angela to watch the second half of the game. They all watched Seattle take the lead and go up by ten in the third quarter, but both women found their attention straying from the game during this time to think about the changes about to happen in their lives.

While any other time Jane would have been totally focused on every play, she had trouble finding the same level of enthusiasm she normally had. Instead she slipped her hand into Maura’s in her lap as her thoughts wandered to all of the things that could happen in the next few days.

Maura typically wasn’t as invested in the outcome of the games as her son and Jane were. But usually she paid attention and let their enthusiasm carry her along. Now she was content to just enjoy spending the evening with her family. She used the opportunity of his focus on the game to wrap her arm around Will’s shoulder and occasionally run her fingers through his hair on the back of his head.

That didn’t last for long though. In the fourth quarter the Patriots began their comeback with a touchdown. Will was still on his feet cheering a few minutes later when the Patriots got the ball back and began their go-ahead touchdown drive and he didn’t sit down the rest of the game. 

By now Jane’s attention was fully focused on the game too. Maura leaned back against the couch to study Jane’s profile as she watched the game and talked through how everything could play out with Will and her brothers. She had the same intense focus Maura saw during the times she got to see Jane at work with a suspect or a witness. 

Maura was startled to attention when everyone in the room jumped up with shouts of excitement. She had been watching Jane instead of the television, but while everyone else was high-fiving each other Maura figured out from the replays that the Patriots defense had just made an interception to secure the win and she got up to join in the celebration. Suddenly, Jane’s arms were around her waist and she was lifted her off her feet and spun around.

“Oh!” Maura exclaimed, still feeling surprised as Jane set her back down on the floor.

“What a day, huh?” Jane said, smiling goofily at her.

“I love you,” Maura responded, her hands going to sides of Jane’s face.

“I love you, too,” Jane said. “Things are only going to get crazier tomorrow,” she added.

“I can’t wait,” Maura said.


	35. Chapter 35

Everything happened in a rush. 

Maura and Jane met the birth mother and everyone agreed to proceed with the adoption. They had to wait seventy-two hours for the adoption paperwork to be finalized, but in the meantime they could visit with the baby in the NICU.

From that day on they pretty much spent any free moment in the NICU. Maura was able to quickly rearrange her schedule so she didn’t have to go into work unless an emergency came up, but Jane didn’t have the same luxury that first week. She spent as much time as she could at the hospital, but she still had to be on call and occasionally make an appearance at the office. Fortunately with the big snowstorm people were staying home, not going out to murder each other.

Angela was a big help, staying at their house, getting Will to and from school, and helping to get things for the baby. Jane would never forget the look on her mother’s face the morning she told her that there was a baby that were going to try to adopt. It was a mixture of shock, happiness, and anger. Angela immediately berated Jane for not telling her sooner about their plans, complete with a dish towel thrown at her, but then quickly moved into expressions of joy and then started making plans for when she would babysit.

For the first few weeks Maura and Jane were limited in what they could do with him. He had to be in the incubator for much of the day with a frightening number of tubes and wires attached to him. There were wires to monitor heart rate, respiratory rate, and temperature. He wasn’t able to take food through his mouth right away so he had a nasal feeding tube and, although he was able to breath on his own, another machine helped pump air to his lungs.

For brief periods each day they were allowed to hold him and Jane and Maura took turns holding him against one of their bare chests, which was through to help his sleeping, temperature, and with the parental bonding process. They were also able to help the nurses bathe him and change his diaper.

After the first week, Jane received approval to take a few weeks of leave for the time they had him in the hospital and then to transition him home. She would go back to work while Maura took three months of maternity leave and then Jane would take the rest of her leave when Maura’s ended. When they weren’t in the hospital they were getting the baby’s room and supplies ready and trying to spend as much quality time with Will as possible. They tried to be home for dinner every night, usually with Angela actually making dinner, and then sometimes either one or both of them would go back to the hospital for another few hours. 

After two weeks their baby boy had grown enough that he didn’t need to be fed with a tube and they could feed him from a bottle. He also was able to spend more time outside the incubator and they took full advantage of their opportunities to hold him and take care of him as much as the nurses allowed them to. 

At the end of the third week, the doctors announced that he would probably be able to go home within a few days. That afternoon Jane and Maura sat with him at the hospital discussing final plans for getting him home. Jane had perfected the art of tiny diaper changes and snug swaddling and now was reclining with him laying against her chest. After a stressful couple of weeks, they were finally able settle down and just enjoy their time with him knowing that they would all be home soon.

“He needs a name,” Jane said after a period in which they fallen into a content silence. They had been referring to him as baby boy, little guy, sweetie, or other terms of endearment in silent acknowledgment that at first they didn’t know if the adoption would be finalized and then they didn’t know how well things were going to go with potential health issues. Now all that was resolved and it was time to move forward. “Do you have any ideas?”

Maura shook her head. “I was actually wondering if you had anything in mind. I chose William for my grandfather. Is their anyone your family you want to name him after?”

“Certainly not my father,” Jane answered. “My mother’s father was Angelo, which I don’t think would be a great idea. My other grandfather was Carmine. Carmine Isles,” she said making a face. “That doesn’t exactly role off the tongue. I wasn’t really close with either of them and it wouldn’t be particularly meaningful to me. We should pick a name we both like.”

“We haven’t discussed last names,” Maura said. “He doesn’t have to have my last name. He can be a Rizzoli.”

“I think he and Will should have the same last name. That just makes the most sense to me.”

“We could all change our names. We could all be Rizzoli-Isles or Isles-Rizzoli, or we could make up a new last name.”

“Making up our own name is little too hippy-dippy for me. And changing names sounds like a lot of paperwork,” Jane joked. At Maura’s fake glare, she said, “I appreciate everything you’re saying and I love you. But nobody has to change their names. Both kids can have your last name.”

Angela arrived then with Will. One of the three women was bringing Will at least once every few days so he could visit with his new brother too. At first he seemed a little freaked out by the hospital setting and all of the tubes and wires, but now he was more comfortable and seemed to have fun interacting with the baby.

“What do you think about a name for the little guy, Will?” Jane said.

Although Jane sort of threw the question out without really thinking about it, Will took it seriously and thought for a moment before saying, “I like the name Alex.”

Jane raised her eyebrows, giving Maura a questioning look. 

“Alexander means ‘defender of mankind,’” Maura said. “I like it.”

“Alexander Isles has a nice ring to it,” Jane agreed.

“Or Alexander Rizzoli Isles,” Maura suggested. “We can use your last name as his middle name,” she said to Jane.

“Is there any particular meaning of the name for you or any reason you suggested it?” Jane asked Will.

“No, I just like it,” he answered.

Jane looked down and said, “What do you think little guy? Are you an Alexander?” After giving one last confirming look to Maura, she said to Will, “I think you just named him, big brother.”

“Cool,” Will responded. “Can I tell everyone?”

“Of course, honey,” Maura said. 

“Grandma called the house this morning,” he said to Maura. “She wants to come visit next week.”

“Next week?” Maura said in exasperation. “We’re not even going to have him—I mean Alex,” she corrected herself with a nod toward Will, “settled in yet.”

“We’ll have him home,” Jane said. “What else are we going to do to get him settled? The more the merrier, right Alex?” she said the to bundled up baby in her arms. “Pretty soon you’ll have met everyone, little buddy.”

Angela moved to take Alex out of Jane’s arms, as Jane knew she would as soon as possible, and immediately began cooing over him and talking to him while taking the seat Jane vacated for her.“I’m going to go call my mother,” Maura said. “Maybe she can delay her visit a week or two.” 

Jane shrugged and said, “We’ll manage it whenever she comes.”

“Has your father stopped by yet?” Angela asked her daughter when 

“Nope,” Jane answered in a tone that suggested she didn’t want to discuss it any further. Attempting to end the topic of discussion, she added, “Frankie and Tommy have both visited a few times.”

Ignoring Jane’s response, Angela said, “I told your father when and where to come. I thought he was going to.”

“Well, he hasn’t come and I’m really not feeling surprised or upset about it.”

While the two women talked, Will stood over Angela’s shoulder and made silly faces at Alex and laughed at the baby’s entirely involuntary reactions. To Angela he asked, “Are you going to be called Grandma too or something else?”

“In my family instead of Grandma we usually use Nonna. It’s the Italian word for grandmother, so I think I’ll be Nonna,” she answered.

“Oh,” he said.

“You can call me Nonna too if you want,” Angela told him.

“I can?”

“Of course. You’re my grandson now too.”

“Oh yeah,” he said, as if he hadn’t considered that before. “Cool. Can I hold Alex now?”

Angela reluctantly gave up her seat so Will could sit down and carefully placed Alex in his arms and said, “Remember to support his head.” Stepping back to where Jane stood across the room, she said softly, “You have two great kids, Janie.”

“I know. Crazy right?”

“Will obviously takes after his mother,” she said and Jane laughed. “I hope Alex takes after you enough to give you at least a little bit of hell, especially during his teenage years.”

Jane laughed again and said, “Yeah, well, be careful what you wish for. If he starts getting too wild, I’m sending him to live with you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jane and Will sat on the floor of the living room in front of the television playing a game on the xbox.  Maura, Constance, and Alex had gone out to go shopping. The truth was that Jane would have preferred to have kept Alex in her arms in the house all day, but she was also happy to let Maura and her mother spend some time together, and in reality there were supplies and clothes they still needed for Alex. With so little time to prepare from his arrival, it seemed like every day they figured out something else that they didn’t have or didn’t have enough of. 

But now that they were out of the house Jane was going a little stir crazy without the baby to focus her attention on. The snow was still piled high outside from an endless string of snowstorms and spring seemed nowhere in sight. She suggested the game to Will, looking for an opportunity to work off some energy by focusing her concentration on something else.

During the middle of playing Will asked, “Jane, can we get a dog?”

“You just got a new brother, now you want a dog too. What are you going to do with a dog?”

“Play with it. Teach it tricks. Go to the park.”

“I’m allergic to dogs,” Jane responded. 

“Can we get one anyway?” Will asked, undaunted.

“Ask your mother,” Jane said.

“You’re my mother too,” Will shot back.

Jane grinned in exasperation and said, “Ask your other mother, but not while your grandmother is here. And maybe not until Alex has been home for at least a few weeks.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


Meanwhile, Maura was pushing Alex in the stroller through the shopping mall with her mother walking beside her.

“I still don’t understand why you wanted to go to the mall,” Constance was saying.

“Because this is where the diapers are,” Maura responded.

“Couldn’t you have ordered them online?”

Maura stopped walking and said, “Alex is still underweight and I don’t like the small diapers we have. They’re giving him a rash. I want to get new ones today, and I want to look at them in person so I can pick the ones I like. And there’s some other things we need. You didn’t have to come and if you had waited a week or two to visit, we would have been more settled.” Maura had actually wanted to get out of the house for a little while and had assumed her mother wouldn’t volunteer to come along. Constance wasn’t doing anything particularly annoying, but Maura had suggested she wait before visiting and she was simply aggravated that Constance came anyway.

“Maura, darling. I have a new grandson. Of course I wanted to come as soon as possible to meet him. I’m sorry if you feel like I’m putting you out.”

Maura shook her head and said, “No, I’m sorry. It’s been a stressful few weeks. Wonderful, but stressful. I’m glad you’re here to meet your grandson. Why don’t you take Alex and just walk around or go to any stores you want. I’ll go pick up what I need to and then we’ll go out for lunch?”

Constance agreed and when they met up again an hour later, her hands were full of shopping bags. At first Maura assumed they were things she purchased for herself, but then she saw the store names on the bags. 

“What on earth did you get?” Maura asked.

“Just a few things for Alexander. Clothes, toys, things like that.”

“Just a few?” Maura said incredulously.

“Yes, well, you can never have enough clothes right?”

Maura smiled and said, “Thank you. I love you.”

“Now, how about lunch? We’re not going to eat at the mall, are we?” Constance asked, crinkling her nose.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A little after midnight Jane and Maura lay in bed with Alex sleeping between them. He had woken up for his midnight feeding and after feeding him his bottle they put him on the bed between them so they could simply enjoy him and each other for a few peaceful minutes.

“When you go back to work next week, you’ll have to let me do this feeding so you can sleep,” Maura said softly.

Jane shrugged a shoulder. “I”m used to irregular sleep schedules. We’ll see what works. Maybe I’ll do the morning feeding so you can sleep in and I’ll go to work early.”

“You’re volunteering to get up early?” Maura said in surprise.

Instead of directly answering her question, Jane said, “You know I love you, right?”

“Of course I do.”

“And Will,” Jane quickly added. “I would do absolutely anything for both of you. But I can’t even explain the feeling I have for Alex, to be responsible for this little tiny being. I feel like my heart is going to explode from my chest.”

“Are you sure you don’t have a serious medical problem?” Maura replied.

Jane rolled her eyes and said, “You know what I mean, right?”

Maura reached out to take Jane’s hand and, smiling, said, “Yes, I do. I know exactly what you mean.”

“Will it always feel like this?” Jane asked.

“It will fade some. It won’t always be so intense. But then something will happen, or he’ll do something, and that feeling will hit you again. Sometimes Will does something really sweet or he’ll say something or do something that will make me realize how much he’s grown or how smart or sweet he is, and I’ll be overcome with the feeling you’re describing.”

“So I have years and years of this to look forward to?” Jane asked.

Maura smiled and answered, “Yes.”

“Good,” Jane said with a chuckle. “I guess I should move him to his crib now. He should be out now for a few more hours at least.” 

Maura nodded and Jane picked up Alex to carry him to his crib in the yoga room that was now his temporary nursery. Once he was sleeping through the night, they would move him to his room on the second floor, but for now they decided it was easier to have him in the adjoining room. 

When Jane returned and got back into bed, Maura said, “You’re great with him. You’re a natural mother.”

Jane grinned but then shook her head and said, “Earlier today Will asked me if we could get a dog.”

“What did you tell him?”

“I told him to ask you,” Jane answered.

Maura laughed. “Well, what do you think about getting a dog?”

“I think I’m allergic to dogs.”

Smiling, Maura said, “Can we get one anyway?”

Now Jane laughed and answered, “Probably.”

Jane was laying on her back and now Maura moved on top of her, straddling Jane’s waist. She leaned forward and rested a palm against Jane’s chest between her breasts. “You know that feeling of your heart beating out of your chest?” Maura asked and Jane nodded. “You give me that feeling too. All the time.”

Jane reached out to brush her fingers against Maura’s cheek and then moved her hand to the back of her neck to pull Maura’s head down so she could bring their lips together. Soon clothes were shed and bodies were moving together, starting slowly and building until they collapsed in a heap of tangled and sweaty limbs for a few hours of sleep before Alex woke them up again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I’m marking this story complete now. I loved writing this story and spending time in this universe. I would love to continue and maybe I will add a chapter or more at some point, but I don’t have enough time to devote to it right now and I think it is only fair to you lovely readers for me to mark the story complete at this point. Thank you so much for going on this journey with me.


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